Browns taking Baker Mayfield No. 1 is the worst NFL Draft smokescreen ever
By Josh Hill
In what has to be the most transparent smokescreen in NFL Draft history, the Browns are puffing up interest in Baker Mayfield.
With less than 72 hours before the NFL Draft kicks off, smokescreens throughout the league are starting to go up in an effort to throw front offices off each other’s scent. Per usual, smoke around the NFL Draft almost never means there’s fire but few fuses are easier to light than the one attached to Baker Mayfield.
The Oklahoma product has punk rock potential, which makes him both incredibly intriguing and delectably divisive. He’s either going to be Joe Namath or Johnny Manziel — there seems to be no middle ground whatsoever.
With that wide a margin for error, of course the Browns are wading into the deep end of the Mayfield rumor pool. According to Adam Schefter, Cleveland is reportedly interested in taking Baker with the first pick in the draft.
Just to add a bit more murkiness to top of draft: one NFL executive said this morning that Baker Mayfield is “definitely” in Cleveland’s conversation to become the No. 1 overall pick.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2018
Whoa boy. That’s one helluva thing to leak and might be the most transparent smokescreen we’ve ever seen. To ease the minds of Browns fans, no one believes this is going to happen — and it won’t.
There is absolutely no chance in hell the Browns spend the No. 1 overall pick on Baker Mayfield unless such a move is immediately followed by the Factory of Sadness collapsing into the Earth a la The Dark Knight Rises.
If the Browns are interested in Baker, then it’s going to be at No. 4 overall and there’s a decent chance he’s off the board by then. It’s been heavily reported that the New York Jets are in love with Baker and would spend the third pick on him if they get a chance.
This could also be a last-minute ploy to get a team that loves Baker to trade up into the top slot, surrendering a bevy of picks in the process. Buffalo has long been rumored to move up, and it sounds like the Giants aren’t going to budge at No. 2. With the rumors that the Jets want Baker, the Bills would need to leap to No. 1 if they believe the hype enough to be flustered.
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All of this is to say, the Browns are not drafting Baker Mayfield and most certainly are not using the No. 1 overall pick on him. Cleveland fans have enough to be anxious about but need not concern themselves with any of this nonsense.