Baker Mayfield Joining AFC North Rival Makes All The Sense In The World

The future of Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield hangs in the balance leading up to the 2022 NFL draft, but he could certainly remain in the vaunted AFC North division.

Jeff Darlington appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” and talked about the possibility that the Pittsburgh Steelers could take in Mayfield, should the Browns ever decide to cut him.

"If for some reason the Browns, and I don’t expect this to happen, were to cut Baker Mayfield, I think he signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers the very next day. Teams do still covet Baker Mayfield. They just don’t think that they need to give up as much as the Cleveland Browns are asking right now,” he explained.

Darlington also noted that the Seattle Seahawks make the most sense for Mayfield to join as he would certainly be an upgrade over Drew Lock, whom they received in the Russell Wilson trade with the Denver Broncos.

He also mentioned that the Carolina Panthers going after Mayfield makes little sense after already committing to Sam Darnold in the long term.

Joining the Steelers makes a ton of sense for Mayfield from a football perspective since the team is not expected to lean on either Mitch Trubisky or Mason Rudolph heavily if they can acquire him.

The 2017 Heismann Trophy winner would be a much better option than either man as his experience and overall quarterback ability has the potential to anchor the Steelers for a very long time.

The drama surrounding Mayfield and the Browns all began when he released a letter to the city of Cleveland, thanking them for taking him and his family in after the franchise drafted him.

At this point, Mayfield has heard all the opinions that everyone has to say regarding his tenure in Cleveland and he has since opened up on the disrespect he felt from the organization.

But for now, he will be forced to wait and see what happens next to Watson and the Browns before he gets moved.

The running theory in most football circles is that the Browns are awaiting the final decision on Watson’s pending legal case outside of the league and whether the NFL will decide to suspend him or not.

Should Watson be found guilty of the sexual assault allegations levied against him, a league-wide suspension could await him which will force the Browns to make up with Mayfield going into this season.

There are a lot of moving pieces in this story and though a resolution is hard to find right now, only time will tell what happens to Mayfield, the Browns and Watson.