“$19 million for a good QB is chicken feed”: Shannon Sharpe believes Baker Mayfield could end up being a bust
Follow Us
The NFL off-season is in full swing and all the top players have found a place for themselves. Many have secured the bag by getting extensions with their existing teams or by moving to greener pastures. However, one player is stuck in a no-win situation, Baker Mayfield. The former 1st pick and the Browns quarterback now finds himself in a backup role after his team acquired Deshaun Watson for a whopping $203 million, all guaranteed.
With the season fast approaching, Baker has already requested a trade, however, no team is willing to get him and the Cleveland Browns do not want to release him as they want to get his full trade value.
“Baker Mayfield is going to end on the list with Jeff George & JaMarcus Russell”: Shannon Sharpe
Fox analyst and Undisputed host Shannon Sharpe believe nobody trusts Baker enough to bet on him as trading for him would take up nearly $19 million of their cap space. As a matter of fact, given the hype for Mayfield, who was considered by the Browns as their franchise QB a mere amount of $19 million is “chicken feed, that’s peanuts considering the going rate is somewhere in between $40 and $50 million and somebody is willing to give you a quality quarterback, a franchise quarterback for $19 million and everybody says no,” Sharpe said.
The Carolina Panthers almost traded for Baker on the draft night, however, the trade did not happen as the team did not want to give up that much of its cap space. The Panthers instead opted for Matt Carrell, every other team has drafted a QB or traded for one. This is surprising considering Baker got into the league just four years ago and he turned the Cleveland franchise around following a 0-16 season before he got drafted.
The issue with Baker appears to be his mentality more so than his game. In my personal opinion, any quarterback who can turn an 0-16 franchise into a 7-8 franchise in his first season clearly has talents, however, his fame and the one thing that ESPN analyst Stephen. A. Smith has told is that Baker Mayfield has more ads than wins. The QB has gotten his way since day 1 in terms of being able to select his own coach, a privilege that not any other QB gets.
Baker Mayfield is talented, but he has to undergo a mentality change, Shannon Sharpe adds that the QB has to “land on his feet, land on a team, and he better play extremely well or he will end up in the category of Jeff George or JaMarcus Russell, you don’t want to be on a list with those guys, No.1 overall picks that did not finish their rookie contracts with their team.”
Times are tough for Baker, but hopefully, he gets his act together and performs to his true potential.
Also read: Cleveland Browns refuse to release Baker Mayfield; Will wait for suitable trade offers for the QB
Also read: JJ Watt calls out Trevon Diggs about his take on Sacks
Stay Updated!
Sumedh Joshi
(2235 Articles Published)