Baker Mayfield’s best option is to reconcile with Browns

Baker Mayfield needs to swallow his pride and suit up for the Cleveland Browns this season.

As much as it may pain him, Baker Mayfield must Jim Harbaugh power through the awkwardness and agree to play ball for the Cleveland Browns for one more season.

Yes, their relationship is far beyond repair, but this is the least terrible of a handful of crummy alternatives. The Browns would have the best roster of any team he could realistically be traded to (no, the New Orleans Saints do not feel like a serious option). Given that it is very likely Deshaun Watson will be suspended indefinitely by the NFL, here is to one helluva Mayfield spite season!

PFF’s Sam Monson outlined why Mayfield staying put is clearly the best option for him this year.

Assuming Watson misses another season, the Browns would be pouring gasoline onto their perpetual dumpster fire, as it will be The Jacoby Brissett Show in 2022. Buckle up!

Should Brissett be the better player over Mayfield, Cleveland would have leverage to trade their former No. 1 overall pick to another franchise if their star quarterback goes down to injury.

Baker Mayfield should stay with Cleveland Browns, but it actually makes sense

The Browns are not in the business of good sense, rather nonsense. With the bridge to Mayfield having been burnt to a crisp like it is scorched earth armageddon, him coming back to Cleveland would be the definition of cringeworthy. Regardless, this comes down to one simple question for Cleveland to answer: Do the Browns want to win games or not? With Mayfield, they totally can.

By keeping Mayfield, the Browns will not be carrying dead cap like they would be if they were to cut or trade him. Once his fifth-year option spite season is in the books, they can move on from their toxic and turbulent half-decade marriage. It may not have been a good one for the most part, but Mayfield did give the Browns something they have not had in decades: Hope and a playoff win.

Ultimately, Mayfield staying put is just way too logical for this to actually happen. When stubborn meets stubborn, it does not cancel the stubborn out. What we end up with is the two rams’ horns interlocked in a fight where nobody has any idea how to help, or even wants to. The Browns are a flaming car crash, but like insects with light, we simply cannot look away. We all live to rubberneck.

You can always count on the Browns to make the absolute worst decision possible every last time.