CLEVELAND, Ohio – With the NFL Draft set to begin Thursday, speculation of if and when the Browns will trade Baker Mayfield continues to heat up.
On Monday, NFL Hall of Famer and FS1′s Shannon Sharpe went in on Mayfield during an episode of “Undisputed.”
“Baker Mayfield would still be the quarterback if what a lot of people said Baker Mayfield was going be [was true], which is a franchise-altering quarterback,” said Sharpe. “In the NFL, you play well you have a job, you keep a job. Baker Mayfield didn’t play well.”
Sharpe is echoing statements he’s made about Mayfield since the Browns traded for former Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson in March. The move put Mayfield in a state of limbo with rumors the Browns could trade him as early as this week, possibly for draft picks. There have been no takers thus far.
“Nobody willing to trade a fifth-round pick?” asked Sharpe. “You won’t give up a fifth, sixth or seventh-rounder? Don’t nobody want [Baker Mayfield]. It’s hard, but it’s true. Sad, but fair.”
The world likely won’t know if anyone “wants” Baker Mayfield until teams that need quarterbacks such as the Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers and a few others make their first-round selections. However, Sharpe doesn’t seem to think Mayfield has much of a future.
“The Cleveland Browns have realized as long as it’s ideal, as long as Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are running the air out of the ball and the defense is lights out, Baker is our guy,” Sharpe says. “But if we get into a scoring match, a shootout, we need a quarterback that can do that.
“If the conditions are perfect, Baker Mayfield is your guy. When the conditions aren’t perfect, Baker’s not your guy. And I know this — When Odell [Beckham] got free of Baker, he came to L.A. and won a Super Bowl.”
