After a wild off-season and the signing of Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield has yet another reason to keep a chip firmly on his shoulder. The 27-year-old Browns quarterback is currently in athletic limbo with no definitive end in sight. Cleveland’s front office seems willing to wait for Mayfield’s demand to rise, so they’re not stuck with the entirety of his 18.9 million dollar cap hit in exchange for nothing.

The problem is that the rest of the league is more than happy to leave Cleveland holding the bag after Deshaun Watson’s market-setting deal of $230-million guaranteed. With trade discussions at a stand-still, there are still plenty of potential landing spots for Baker Mayfield if agreeable terms can be met.

Seattle

While Seattle might seem to be a good fit with the departure of Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll has stated in no uncertain terms that the team will be “riding” Drew Lock. The Seahawks front office is excited to see what Lock can do, but it’s hard to believe that Mayfield wouldn’t be a clear upgrade. This suggests that Seattle is aware that they are not a quarterback away from being competitive in the NFL and want to preserve the current dynamic within their locker room.

Seattle makes sense at first glance, but a Mayfield move to the Pacific Northwest does seem to be in the cards.

Houston

With Watson leaving the Texans, Mayfield would seem to be a logical stop-gap, but Houston is another roster that is expressing their faith in their current quarterback room. Houston claims that it is perfectly happy with sophomore quarterback Davis Mills out of Stanford.

Despite Mills’ lackluster rookie season, the Texans are not scrambling for a new signal-caller. Much like Seattle, Houston needs a quarterback, but the franchise doesn’t seem to believe that they are only one Baker Mayfield away from making a deep playoff run, and having Mills on a rookie contract leaves plenty of money available to shore up other segments of the roster.

Carolina

Carolina already seems to have plenty of room for experimentation in the quarterback room. If Sam Darnold struggles early and fans call for fresh blood, the rookie Matt Corral seems to be their next great project. Bringing Mayfield on would only muddy the waters and leave fans even more confused as to what the vision is for the team going forward.

New York Giants

With the Giants opting out of Daniel Jones’ fifth-year option, this seems to be a “prove it” year for Danny Dimes. The New York Football Giants brought in Tyrod Taylor on a two-year, $17-million deal this past March, meaning that they are unlikely to shake up their quarterback room in the immediate future.

Falcons

Atlanta is another club that appears stuck in quarterback mediocrity. Marcus Mariota likely has his last shot at a starting position, and Desmond Ridder is waiting in the wings should Mariota prove unreliable. The Falcons are another team without an obvious monolith at quarterback, but Mayfield isn’t the clear solution to the organization’s concerns.

Baker Mayfield is ultimately the victim of the current quarterback market. Some of this is undoubtedly Cleveland’s fault for waiting so long to notify him that he’d be out of a job. This is only compounded by Mayfield’s lackluster performance through his recent injury struggles and the fact that every team that needs a quarterback has a myriad of other holes to address in their rosters. Mayfield would not be a godsend to any club that could use him, and the Browns seem unwilling to part with their QB2 for free.

The only way Mayfield will not be riding the pine for Cleveland will be if someone goes down with an injury, and the team in question will be willing to foot at least some of the bill. As difficult as it may be for Baker Mayfield to stomach, he may have to wait until the season has started to have his number called. Two things are clear: the Browns aren’t planning on doing their playoff-winning quarterback any favors, and the rest of the league has no plan to show the Browns any mercy until backed up against the wall. Fortunately for Mayfield, he’s always known how to channel spite to his advantage.