Former Cleveland Browns star Joe Thomas thinks Baker Mayfield made a big mistake with how he handled his trade demand.
Thomas appeared on “The Thom & Hawk Football Show” and questioned whether Mayfield “overplayed his hand” by demanding a trade after Cleveland’s pursuit of Deshaun Watson went public. Thomas felt that Mayfield made a mistake by not trying to work things out with the organization when Watson initially turned the Browns down.
“To me it seemed like Baker overplayed his hand a little bit,” Thomas said. “At that moment, the Browns were out of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, and it seemed by all accounts that they were ready to do what it took to smooth things over with Baker. At that point, the Browns were backed into a corner. He was their quarterback, and he could have said ‘Hey, I realize that you guys went after Deshaun Watson. It didn’t sit well with me. To make it up to me, I need to do something with this contract. You need to commit to me so I can commit to you. Let’s bring this relationship back together.'”
“He got a little sensitive about it, he got a little bit emotional, and that’s when he released this. ‘I’m not going to play for them.’ He went radio silent on the Cleveland Browns and said ‘You have to trade me to the Indianapolis Colts’ thinking that he was perceived as a franchise quarterback in the NFL and could dictate the terms of where he was going to be traded.”
Thomas’ read on things looks to be accurate. There is no doubt that Mayfield was hurt by the Browns’ pursuit of Watson, but the relationship was not doomed. He could have remained silent, but instead released a premature statement and demanded a trade. The Browns then reengaged with the Texans and ultimately landed Watson. Now Mayfield is discovering that few teams are willing to make a move for him.
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