Cleveland Browns

Baker Mayfield pens heartfelt letter to city of Cleveland

Updated Mar. 16, 2022 12:35 p.m. ET

Both Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns are officially stirring the pot.

The Browns met with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on Tuesday, and according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns' organization made their offer to Watson on Tuesday evening and went back to Cleveland in hopes that he’ll choose them over the Saints, Panthers and Falcons.

Following the news, Mayfield took to Twitter and posted a letter he crafted to the city of Cleveland. The caption of the tweet reads "With many uncertainties, here is where my head and heart is."

In the letter, Mayfield thanked the city of Cleveland and its fans.

"This is not a message with hidden meaning. This is strictly to thank the city of Cleveland for embracing my family and me," Mayfield wrote in the letter. "I have no clue what happens next, which is the meaning behind the silence I have had during the duration of this process … I have given this franchise everything I have ... and that will not change wherever I take my next snap."

Mayfield was drafted by the Browns with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In his third season in Cleveland, Mayfield led the Browns to their first playoff berth since 2002 and their first playoff victory since 1994.

But following an up-and-down 2021 campaign, in which he posted a 6-8 record as a starter, rumors began to swirl about Mayfield's future.

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Browns general manager Andrew Berry gave Mayfield a vote of confidence in January, stating "we fully expect Baker to be our starter and bounce back."

But that appeared to change this week when a grand jury declined to indict Watson following a police investigation sparked by lawsuits filed by 22 women who have accused him of harassment and sexual assault.

Watson must now waive his trade clause to facilitate a trade and join another team. He met with the Saints and Panthers on Monday night, and is set to meet with the Falcons on Wednesday.

Mayfield is 29-30 in his four seasons with the Browns. He is set to enter the final year of his rookie deal, which will pay him $19 million in 2022.

On Wednesday, Skip Bayless addressed Mayfield's letter, saying that Mayfield is deserving of a trade if Cleveland is not going to invest in him long-term.

"[Mayfield's] been wanting an excuse to ask for a trade all along and all of a sudden he's like, ‘Thank you!’ This is a farewell that he just posted. It's over. It's all in the past tense. You're done with Cleveland!"

But in Shannon Sharpe's mind, Mayfield saying farewell to Cleveland after the Browns made it clear they're in the quarterback market is nonsensical.

"You can't ask for a trade after you saw them go for Deshaun Watson! [The Browns] pulled a Boyz II Men — they went down on bended knee to Deshaun Watson, and now you gonna talk about you want a trade? He wrote that after Cleveland said, ‘We’re done with you.'"

This is a developing story.