Browns: 3 reasons trading Baker Mayfield was the right move

The Cleveland Browns traded Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers and it was absolutely the right move given the circumstances.

The inevitable finally happened on Wednesday when the Browns traded Baker Mayfield away.

The quarterback is on his way to Carolina and Cleveland can now move on with all of their chips in the Deshaun Watson basket.

The Browns can be heavily criticized for the way this whole saga went down, from paying Watson a truckload of guaranteed money despite allegations of sexual misconduct to their handling of Mayfield in general.

However, when it comes to the trade, this was really the only answer.

Browns: 3 reasons trading Baker Mayfield was the right move

Mayfield wasn’t going to play (or win)

Keeping Mayfield on the roster involved just two scenarios: 1. He stepped in for Watson or 2. He didn’t play whether or not Watson was available.

The rift between Mayfield and the Browns was too great to overcome. He wasn’t going to play if they wanted him to, so keeping him as a backup plan would be pointless.

Even if everyone changed their minds and the quarterback was willing to step back into the lineup, would it have wielded considerably more than plugging in Jacoby Brissett?

The team already clearly decided that Mayfield wasn’t going to win them a Super Bowl or anything of note. The likelihood of Mayfield proving them wrong under current circumstances was minuscule.

Watson is Cleveland’s end game. A couple of extra wins in 2022 were never going to be worth the trouble.