Baker Mayfield requested a deal from the Browns, telling ESPN’s Adam Shifter that it was “in the very best pursuits of either side” for Cleveland to separate from the quarterback.
“It’s within the widespread curiosity of either side that we transfer ahead,” Mayfield instructed ESPN’s Adam Shifter. “The connection may be very removed from repairing. It’s within the curiosity of each events to maneuver ahead.”
Nonetheless, Brown’s household has instructed the Mayfield camp that they’re “not responding to his request,” a supply instructed ESPN reporter Jake Trotter.
Mayfield’s request comes the identical day Brown learns they’re out of the race to get quarterback Deshaun Watson on a deal from the Houston Texans.
The Browns had been one among 4 groups who met with Watson final week to gauge his curiosity in waiving their no-trade clause, however they now face vital uncertainty of their midfield place.
A supply instructed Trotter earlier Thursday that Brown, upon rising from the feud to accumulate Watson, would like to maneuver ahead with Mayfield. However Mayfield’s request might drive Cleveland to commerce the quarterback who received the 2017 Heisman Cup and was then named first general within the draft.
A supply instructed ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Mayfield has a powerful curiosity within the Colts, who’re out there for the quarterback after swapping Carson Wentz with captains, and believes Indianapolis presents him with a very good probability of successful.
Whereas Cleveland officers had been coming back from their Tuesday assembly with Watson, Mayfield posted a press release on social media thanking the town of Cleveland and its followers “who’ve actually embraced who I’m.”
“With so many doubts, right here is the place my head and my coronary heart are,” Mayfield wrote as a preface to his letter, which he addressed to Cleveland and posted on Instagram and Twitter.
A supply instructed Trotter that Mayfield and his camp discovered of Al Brown’s assembly with Watson by way of social media.
Mayfield had a turbulent interval in Cleveland, taking part in beneath 4 coaches throughout his first three seasons within the league. However he led Cleveland to their first playoff win in 26 years in the course of the 2020 season and completed tenth within the league within the QBR.
Mayfield suffered a tear in his shoulder within the second week of final season and struggled the remainder of the way in which, ending twenty seventh within the QBR as Brown missed the playoffs and completed with a disappointing 8-9 file.
Mayfield, who underwent labral restore surgical procedure on January 19 and is anticipated to be totally cleared effectively earlier than coaching camp, is coming into the ultimate yr of his start-up deal, which can pay him $19 million in 2023.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter contributed to this report.
