Baker Mayfield next team NFL odds: Seahawks out after re-signing Geno Smith? Could Steelers pounce?
The Seattle Seahawks have made a move at quarterback.
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The biggest-name quarterback still "on the market" is clearly Cleveland's Baker Mayfield, the former No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner. Mayfield's future with the Browns is over after the team traded for Deshaun Watson, but Cleveland has yet to find a trade partner for Mayfield and there's no reason to simply cut him and eat his $18.86 million guaranteed salary in 2022 if at all possible. Seattle has always been the logical landing spot, but the Seahawks may not have an opening in their QB room after bringing back Geno Smith. SportsLine offers updated odds on Mayfield's next team.
Seattle re-signed Smith today on a one-year deal worth up to $7 million (you don't pay that much for a 100 percent backup) to join Drew Lock and Jacob Eason as the quarterbacks on the roster. Is Mayfield better than Geno Smith? Hard to find someone who would say no, although the 31-year-old Smith started three games for the Seahawks last season (1-2 record, both losses were close) while compiling a career-high 103.0 passer rating with five touchdowns and one pick. Mayfield's QB rating was 83.1.
"He showed us a good deal of command of our offense when he played last year and he has a terrific understanding of it so he's out in front of the other guys that are involved in the competition in that regard," Coach Pete Carroll said recently about potentially re-signing Smith.
This could be Seattle simply gaining leverage over Cleveland in a possible trade for Mayfield by essentially telling the Browns they don't need him now. The Seahawks could roll with Lock/Smith as the starter and also take QB fairly early in the 2022 draft as the potential long-term replacement for Russell Wilson.
Mayfield himself said this week that the Seahawks were "probably the most likely option" for him. In an ideal world, perhaps Cleveland would keep Mayfield on the roster and he could start for as long as Watson is suspended (and he will be suspended), but that would be too awkward at this point and the team already signed Jacoby Brissett as the fill-in.
If the Browns cut Mayfield, they take his entire salary as a dead-cap hit and he can sign with any team for the minimum salary of $1.035 million — with Cleveland picking up the balance.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio speculated on the Steelers signing Mayfield if he is released to stick it to the rival Browns and also simply that Mayfield is better than Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph.
When the Browns do officially move on from Mayfield, he will become only the third QB in NFL history to go No. 1 overall in the draft and last four or fewer seasons with the team that drafted him. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora wrote this week that neither side wants this tension to linger deep into the offseason and that a trade may happen before the draft, which starts two weeks from today.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Favorites to be Baker Mayfield's next team
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