Baker Mayfield wants out of Cleveland. Do the Seahawks want him to replace Russell Wilson?
Pete Carroll spent 10 minutes of a Seahawks press conference that was supposed to be about Russell Wilson talking about second chances.
Baker Mayfield is looking for one.
The Seahawks “have discussed exploring acquiring Baker Mayfield at quarterback, per league sources,” CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reported on Twitter Thursday.
Mayfield asked his Cleveland Browns for a trade Thursday, per the Akron Beacon Journal and other outlets. The Beacon Journal reported the Browns said “they aren’t accommodating” Mayfield’s request — though that could be the team leveraging to drive up its price to deal him, if it comes to that.
Seattle and Carroll, its coach, have what they haven’t had in 10 years: a mammoth void at the sport’s most vital position. That’s because the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to Denver for five draft choices and three players.
One of those three Broncos players Seattle received is Drew Lock. The 25-year-old Lock was 8-13 in his spotty, three-year career. He has 25 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in the league.
Leaders from Mayfield’s Browns reportedly met Tuesday in Houston with Texans on-the-trade-market quarterback Deshaun Watson about his possible move to Cleveland. That has intensified the belief the Browns are seeking to trade their quarterback Baker Mayfield. Cleveland.com reported that on Tuesday.
Mayfield, 26, won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in 2017. He was the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft by the Browns. He publicly criticized coach Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling last year while playing through a shoulder injury that required surgery in mid-January.
How awkward would it be for him to be in the final year of his contract of $18 million plus on a team whose owner flew to Texas to try to get Mayfield’s replacement?
Mayfield didn’t sound happy about his situation with the Browns Tuesday night. He posted on Twitter a long thank-you note to Cleveland’s fans, which read like a first goodbye.
“The past four years have been nothing short of truly life changing...,” Mayfield wrote to Browns fans in an online letter that began addressing “Cleveland.”
“This is strictly to thank the city of Cleveland for embracing my family and me...”
In 2019 before the Seahawks played at the Browns, Carroll told Cleveland’s media this about Mayfield on a pregame conference call: “He has all the ability. He has great awareness. He has had tremendous experience throwing the football. He is just way ahead of schedule for most guys. That is why he was chosen where he was. Just the sense, the arm talent and accuracy.
“He has a big belief in himself, I would think. I do not know him, but I would think that he does. That lends itself to the confidence that it takes to hang in there as you learn and to grow and to bounce back from the setbacks that are obviously going to happen as you go along. That is just so difficult. He is an excellent player right now. He is going to be great when the times come.”
Mayfield is due to earn $18.56 million in 2022. The Seahawks entered this week with more than $40 million in salary-cap space, among the NFL’s top five in cap room.
Pending Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs’ three-year, $40 million deal becoming official, Seattle’s top scheduled cap charge for this year is defensive tackle Poona Ford at $10,075,000. That has to change with the team adding a veteran starting quarterback, no?
Or does it?
The Watson effect
Last week the Seahawks were exploring what it might take to trade for Watson. He has not played for the Texans while facing 22 civil lawsuits in Texas from women who accuse Watson of sexual misconduct. Last week a grand jury in Houston decided not to charge Watson criminally based upon the allegations.
That opened his trade market, though the threat of suspension by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for Watson violating the league’s personal conduct policy remains. Watson is reportedly in deep talks with the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Browns and Carolina Panthers about a trade from Houston.
Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Texans. That gives him the power to choose where he goes next.
Last week after trading Wilson the Seahawks were exploring what it might take to trade for Watson. But Watson, a Georgia native who played at Clemson University in South Carolina, reportedly is not interested in playing in the Pacific Northwest.
Carroll and Schneider weren’t going to answer questions about Watson or Mayfield, or any other player currently under contract with another team Wednesday. NFL rules prohibit tampering with players on other clubs.
“The way to answer that is that he’s under contract right now and he has a no-trade clause, as well,” Schneider said when asked about whether the Seahawks contacted Watson.
But they are answering among themselves and their staffs how best to proceed without Wilson as their quarterback for the first time since 2011.
Until they settle that issue, all other players the Seahawks sign or lose in free agency won’t mean as much to the team’s chances of rebounding in 2022.
“We know what we’re doing,” Carroll said.
Lock love
Schneider and Carroll said Wednesday the Seahawks liked the 6-foot-4 Lock in the 2019 draft when he was coming out of the University of Missouri. But that draft was less than two weeks after Seattle signed Wilson to a then-record $140 million extension. So the Seahawks took defensive end L.J. Collier, safety Marquise Blair (their likely primary nickel back in 2022) and now-star receiver DK Metcalf instead of drafting a quarterback three years ago.
Lock had a thumb injury limited his rookie season in Denver to five starts in 2019. He started 13 games in 2020, throwing a league-high 15 interceptions. Then the Broncos signed veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and that was pretty much that for Lock in Denver.
Asked if the Seahawks can win a championship with Lock, Carroll mentioned how well Lock began his first NFL season with Denver. Seattle’s coach also mentioned the possibility of his team re-signing veteran Geno Smith, currently an unsigned free agent. Smith has been Wilson’s backup with the Seahawks the last two seasons.
“If he plays like he did early on I think we’ve got a shot,” Carroll said of Lock. “You go back to his first year when he was balling as a rookie, when he was 4-1, his third-down numbers were terrific. Taking care of the football really well. For whatever reason…the coordinator left after that time, times changed for him, and he didn’t play to that same level.
“So exactly what we have evaluated, the process that we evaluated, he showed. ...We think he’s still that guy, and so we’ll see.
“What we need in our offense is the same thing we’ve always needed, whether it was Carson Palmer (at USC) or Russell Wilson. We need a point guard. Need a guy that plays the game and moves the football around to the guys that are open. Does all of the things that manages the game so that we can play great football.
“Because we are going to win with defense. We are going to win with how we play on special teams. We are going to run the football to help the whole thing fit together. That’s never changed. It’s never been the philosophy that we’ve needed to alter other than continue to grow and make it dynamic and present and current. That’s what we are looking for. ...”
Geno Smith?
“Right now, Geno knows our offense the best,” Carroll said. “If he comes back to us, he has an opportunity to run the whole thing. ...
“We’ll set up a schedule and we’ll figure out all of the guys and we’re going to give (2020 third QB) Jake Eason a shot as well. We want to see where he fits in to it. ...
“We’ll see where it takes us.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 1:47 PM.
