Browns' Baker Mayfield prepared to give 'everything I have to wherever my next home is'

A report surfaced ahead of the weekend claiming that the Cleveland Browns are "highly motivated" to trade former starting quarterback Baker Mayfield as soon as this week after they landed star signal-caller Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans last month. 

Mayfield is owed a fully guaranteed $18.858 million for the 2022 season, the final year of his rookie contract, and is recovering from surgery he underwent in January to repair an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that he played through for the majority of the 2021 campaign. Those issues have allegedly made it difficult for Cleveland to find a trade partner regarding Mayfield's services ahead of the draft that begins Thursday night. 

Per Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press, Mayfield addressed his current attitude during Oklahoma's spring game this past Saturday. 

"I haven’t been in this specific situation before, but it’s familiar territory when it comes to mindset and getting back to the basics and realizing what I need to do," Mayfield explained. "And right now, I can control getting healthy, working and giving everything I have to wherever my next home is." 

Mayfield admitted his four-year Cleveland tenure included "a lot of ups and downs", such as a playoff victory at the rival Pittsburgh Steelers and ultimately losing his job and his place with the Browns. 

"That’s just life," the 27-year-old added. "Everybody at the next level, throughout their careers, they hit a low point. And it’s not about that low point, it’s how you handle it. I’ve said that, it’s never the actual adversity or the challenge, it’s what you do with it and how you set your mind to it." 

It was reported earlier on Monday that the Carolina Panthers are not expected to trade for Mayfield before the first round of the draft "if they do it at all." There is also a belief teams such as the Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are waiting to see if the Browns will cut Mayfield if they can't find a buyer before the draft ends this coming weekend.