Browns may have to sacrifice draft pick or pay to trade Baker Mayfield?

It was said shortly after the Cleveland Browns surprisingly acquired star quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans last month that Cleveland may have to package a draft pick with signal-caller Baker Mayfield to get him off the books. He's owed $18.85M in fully guaranteed money for the 2022 season and clearly has no home in Northeast Ohio this spring. 

That not only hasn't changed. It may be more true today than it was in late March. 

With the NFL Draft set to begin Thursday evening, The Athletic's Zac Jackson named the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks as "the only potential suitors" for Mayfield ahead of the player-selection process. However, it's already been reported neither Carolina nor Seattle is rushing to the phone to call Cleveland about the 2018 first overall draft choice. 

Additionally, Jackson notes that "there could be some newfound interest in Mayfield" after the first two days of the draft, but Jackson also added it's perhaps "likely that any team calling about Mayfield is going to ask the Browns to give up a pick." 

While speaking with reporters late last week, Browns general manager Andrew Berry offered no timeline for when Mayfield may no longer be associated with the franchise. Berry remarked in March that the Browns "have the [cap] flexibility" to keep the 27-year-old on the roster for the foreseeable future, which suggested the club isn't interested in selling the former starter for pennies on the dollar.

"The Browns know they might have to play the long game with Mayfield, and it still seems likely that the Browns will have to pay a large portion of Mayfield’s salary or give up a draft pick to facilitate a trade," Jackson wrote for Tuesday's piece. 

This offseason has shown things often change quickly in the NFL. With that said, there's no indication Cleveland is going to find a trade partner regarding Mayfield's services roughly 48 hours before the first pick of this year's draft is announced.