Why the Aaron Rodgers trade rumors for the Browns make no sense
The post-draft NFL calendar is in a bit of a dead spot early this week. That means the national media must drum up interest and attention with fake news and pointless rumors. And they apparently decided that it would be a good day to rope Browns fans into the loop by heavily promoting the completely fabricated idea of Cleveland trading Baker Mayfield to the Packers as part of a package for disgruntled Jeopardy guest-host Aaron Rodgers.
It’s tiresome. It’s pointless. It’s not going to happen. And it doesn’t even make any sense.
There’s one key element that the national pundits seem oblivious to grasp. The Packers have no use for Baker Mayfield in return. None.
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The Packers are in this mess precisely because they already have Rodgers’ replacement at QB on the roster. More specifically, they drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft with the very specific intent of having him replace Rodgers. The Green Bay front office has already proven it’s prepared to burn everything to the ground for Love. In what world would they bail on that plan without ever even seeing him play?
Giving up on Love for Mayfield completely defeats the purpose of why they would end the wildly successful relationship with Rodgers. If they’re not 100 percent sold on Love in Green Bay, dumping Rodgers makes about as much sense as buying freshly caught sushi from Kansas. That would be GM Brian Gutekunst admitting he completely wasted a first-round pick Love, one that was the catalyst for the end of the empire with Rodgers.
In what context does that make any sense whatsoever? Not only would Gutekunst be forever known as the reason why the Packers lost Rodgers, but he’d also live in infamy as making it happen for a replacement quarterback in Love that couldn’t cut it without ever having seen him play, not even in a preseason game.
Now let’s go to the other side of the equation, the Browns…
Trading for Rodgers effectively ends the Baker Mayfield era. Mayfield is not the type of player or person to take losing his job like that lightly–and that’s exactly why he’s the right QB for Cleveland. The Packers have no need for Mayfield in a trade and the Browns absolutely could not keep him in Cleveland as Rodgers’ backup. It’s simply not a tenable or viable idea.
The Browns just showed commitment to Mayfield by picking up his fifth-year option, and the two sides each seem open to locking up a long-term extension soon. Does it strike anyone as Andrew Berry’s way as GM or Paul DePodesta’s plan as chief strategy officer to napalm the relationship immediately thereafter? To acquire a 37-year-old malcontent they can’t afford beyond 2021, no less?
C’mon now…
It’s apparently a fun topic for the national talking heads to fantasize about, playing fantasy football trade manager for real football. It’s the same national media that continues to try and ship Odell Beckham Jr. out of Cleveland on a semi-weekly basis for the sole purpose of attracting attention to itself.
Tune it out. It’s nothing but pointless noise.
