Here's my bottom line...
Berry and our FO seem very adept at "working the system", so I'm sure there are things they can do that would influence the formula to a point that it results in a 3rd round pick. The "3rd round pick" seems pretty appealing, but the truth is that it's the lowest of low 3rd round picks. There's not much of a drop-off between that and what the average team would provide (as far as value) in any 4th round pick.
I'm sure the FO would rather put this to rest asap and accept a 4th rounder for Baker. And isn't the current, simplistic thinking that a "x" round pick moves up a full round, season over season? In other words, a 4th round pick in 2023 holds about the same value as a 3rd in 2024? We would get that pick in 2023 as opposed to the comp pick in 2024.
The sticking point then becomes salary and how much we are willing to absorb. The "art of the deal" dictates that the receiving team would receive what they deem as a starting-caliber (obvious, or they wouldn't be trading for him) for low draft compensation and would be expected to absorb a certain portion of the salary. The other side of that coin is the fact that the player's salary doesn't really impact our cap for the year anyway. A lot to unpack, but bottom line is "sharing" the cost of the salary is still a win-win for both teams, it's only the amount that comes into question.
Teams that want Mayfield know they are "playing chicken" once the season begins, and that works in the Browns favor. As soon as any QB goes down, the market expands. I don't expect Berry to budge much in accepting less than a 4th with shared salary responsibility unless the dark cloud (which could become much darker, depending on the looming Watson suspension) outweighs the "value" we feel we would be getting in return for Mayfield.
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