Fair questions. I do think the injuries affected his play at times. Mostly in regards to him really having to torque his lower body more than he had in the past. There are a couple of things you might want to consider. Almost every player deals w/injuries. Guys like Wentz, Darnold, Jimmy G, Rodgers, Big Ben, Burrow, Jackson, etc, etc etc dealt w/injuries. The other thing is that Baker was medically cleared to play by professional medical people. Some like to blame Stefanski, but the medical staff is in charge of those decisions. Injuries were a factor, but I think they are being overblown. If you are medically cleared to play, the thinking is you are in good enough shape to perform adequately.

Second point. Baker mentioned that his confidence was shaken or something like that in his podcast. So, you are right about that.

Next point. Baker has always held the ball longer than others. I like using advanced stats to help make my determinations. He got away w/a lot because we have had a good to great OL. A high number of sacks are directly attributed to him and it's been that way from the get go.

You raised another point about how Baker played so well for part of the previous year. I thought he had the best offensive talent around him in the league that year and Stefanski did a great job w/his schemes. It's not hard to succeed when you have all day to throw, you are being put in really good spots by great scheming, you have an awesome running attack that forces d-coordinators to load the box and have open receivers. I still saw very concerning flaws in Baker's game that year. In fact, Diam and I still talk on the phone and text one another. I told him BEFORE the start of this past season that "don't be surprised if the FO doesn't bring Baker back after this year." Not getting that extension was eye-opening and I figured coordinators would come up w/new strategies to combat Baker and our O. Think back......Baker had a pretty good rookie year. Teams attacked him a new way in bringing internal pressure and then flooding the offensive right side of the field w/their coverages. What did we see Baker do a lot of in year 2. Leave the pocket too early and roll to his right where he threw into the teeth of the coverage. Year 3, Stefanski comes in an utilizes a lot of play action and more importantly, boots Baker out of the pocket. What happens in year 4? Teams contain the edges and force Baker to beat them from the pocket. Baker was terrible in throwing from the pocket. His height is a detriment in that regard. He is also slow at processing information and he made more off target throws than all but two NFL starting QBs, and both of those guys were rookies.

Not asking you to agree w/my opinions and takes. You asked politely and I answered in the same manner. I appreciate these types of conversations/debates. May I ask you a question? We have both witnessed how many assets teams give up for good to great qbs. We have seen the reports on how the QB salaries are off the charts. We have seen teams bid for Watson's services even w/all the off field baggage. Why do you think teams aren't trading for Baker considering his pay is relatively low compared to many other QBs? Think about this.........Baker said he wanted to go to Indy. Indy went after an old Matt Ryan instead. Atlanta signed Marcus Mariotta for crying out loud. The Saints decided to stick w/Winston. Baker is still available. Do you think that other teams realize that he has major flaws in his game and that the reports being leaked of how he was viewed in the locker room hasn't played a significant role in that? Like yourself, my questions are legit and are not intended to be snarky. I really respect the way you have debated w/me.[/quote]


Actually, I agree with most of what you say and certainly didn't mean my question to sound even the least bit confrontational. You gave me exactly what I was looking for. IT confirmed some of my thoughts and a different perspective on others.

To answer your question, I know what teams have given for QBs in the draft so our 3 1st rounders and then some is not a crazy price. I also agree it speaks volumes that the "interested" teams are few and far between. The idea of Watson with our line and RBs excites me about the upcoming season.

The off-field accusations will hopefully sort themselves out eventually, then I can decide how I feel about that.

One possible theory I have about Baker still being here is one, maybe 2 teams are interested, but are hoping with that limited market, they can get him for a steal and the Browns also pay some of 2022 salary. I am really not a QB evaluator. One of my worst ever predictions in my life (second only to "why would anyone want a computer in their house, stated 45 years ago) was that Peyton Manning would not be a good NFL QB, I saw his happy feet and assumed it was a nervous issue. Turns out he had them his whole career.

Good discussion.