Browns, Baker Mayfield are past the point of no…

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After leaking that they want an adult at the quarterback position, the Browns apparently now expect Baker Mayfield to behave like an adult after the team openly pursued Deshaun Watson.

But even an adult would be miffed at the team’s open flirtation with a replacement. If the Browns regard Mayfield as something less mature than a fully-aged human, they shouldn’t be surprised that Mayfield has reacted by asking to be traded. If they feel that way about him, they should want to trade him.

What’s the goal in refusing to trade him? To piss him off so that it pushes him to play better than ever? That would be the adult response. If the Browns regard Mayfield as not an adult, why would they expect him to behave that way?

And if it works, if Mayfield uses his frustration as motivation and has a great season, then what? Do the Browns think he’ll be ready to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract extension? That he’d happily play under the franchise tag in 2023 if the talks reach an impasse?

This is a mess, and it’s only going to get messier. Mayfield may have started it, but the Browns escalated it and Mayfield now wants to finish it. If they truly thought they could pursue Watson and then say to Mayfield, “it’s not personal, it’s strictly business,” they grossly underestimated Mayfield. Or overestimated him.

Either way, we overestimated the Browns, because we assumed Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta had concocted a, you know, strategy for moving on from Mayfield. If DePodesta did, it’s odd that one of the steps is to tell Mayfield they won’t accommodate his trade request. Unless the Browns think that taking this position for now will result in a better trade offer than they otherwise would receive.