[Breer] More and more, it looks like the Browns are going to have to pay a very significant percentage of Baker Mayfield’s $18.858 million option for this year to get anything back for him. You can call it buying a draft pick if you want.

Other tidbits:

Draft:

1. It’s been widely assumed forever that Aidan Hutchinson wouldn’t make it past his hometown Lions, holders on the second pick. Now, it’s starting to feel like it’d be a surprise if he made it to them. Bolstering that idea is how the Jaguars put a repeat franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson and signed big-money guard Brandon Scherff. (The early buzz had been that Doug Pederson would lean offensive line with the first pick, and maybe specifically N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu.)

2. If there’s a leader in the clubhouse to be the first quarterback taken, right now, I’d say it’s Liberty’s Malik Willis. In the Mahomes/Allen Era, it’s fair to say you’re looking for quarterbacks with a high ceiling. And Willis, more so than the other guys in this class, has one. On top of that, though he is an on-field projection, because of the offense he’s coming from, he’s done well enough in meetings for teams to believe he’ll be able to handle more volume scheme-wise than he was asked to in college,

3. Georgia’s Travon Walker may be the one player who’s helped himself the most over the last two weeks. In the fall, scouts weren’t talking about him as a first-rounder. Now, it sure seems like he won’t make it out of the top 10.

4. The player I get asked about the most: Cincinnati CB Sauce Gardner. Per scouts I’ve talked to, his tape is as clean as anyone’s in the class, and he’s got the length that Seattle-system defensive coordinators—and there are a lot of them—covet.

5. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: There might not be a player in the class who’d have gone in the top 12 picks last year. But the second and third rounds are expected to be chock full of starting-level players. So if you’re a team like Atlanta (8, 43, 58, 74, 82), Detroit (2, 32, 34, 66, 97), Green Bay (22, 28, 53, 59, 92), Houston (3, 13, 37, 68, 80), Kansas City (29, 30, 50, 62, 94), Philly (15, 16, 19, 51, 83) , the Jets (4, 10, 35, 38, 69) or Giants (5, 7, 36, 67, 81), there should be very good opportunity to build up the guts of your roster.

NFL Musings:

That the Dolphins were willing to trade DeVante Parker to New England was an eyebrow-raiser for me. Sure, he’s been hurt a lot, and Miami was running out of roster spots for receivers, which is why they were shopping Parker for the billionth time … But still.

For what it’s worth, the trade was also a smoking gun on how out-of-nowhere the Tyreek Hill deal was for Miami. If they knew it was coming, maybe they don’t sign Cedrick Wilson from Dallas—and keep Parker instead.

If Cleveland’s willing to do that, I still think Seattle makes the most sense. I’ve been told neither Carolina nor Detroit has much interest in Mayfield, so the potential landing spots are dwindling.

I think odds remain that Philly and Washington start Jalen Hurts and Carson Wentz for their openers. I also wouldn’t rule out either taking a quarterback high in the draft. Ditto for the Steelers with Mitch Trubisky.

John Fox is a really nice hire for the Colts—they have a bunch of young defensive players (Kwity Paye, Julian Blackmon) that have shown the potential to become elite, and join the Darius Leonards and DeForest Buckners of the unit. And I think having Fox will help Gus Bradley in that regard.

Here’s hoping that building an indoor facility is the start of a new level of financial commitment from ownership in Cincinnati. The Bengals are in a position to be really good for a very long time. Now’s the time for them to shed the “cheap” label that’s dogged them for decades.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/04/04/mmqb-inside-bucs-bruce-arians-retirement-secret