The Browns cut Landry, Tretter and Hooper (with a June designation on the Hooper deal to push some dead money into the '23 cap), and Watson is only on the books at a 10m cap hit this season. They're under the cap and have space to make a signing or two still. Landry may end up back there at a lower rate, same with Clowney.
The Baker hesitation is simple imo: starting spots around the league are almost all filled, and there are 2 vets left to be traded - nobody is going to be desperate, so why pay to take a significant cap hit on a player with just 1 year of control left?
Indy went Ryan, who is the safer option over the next couple of years and was probably cheaper (picks wise) at that point. Atlanta couldn't afford Baker, their cap is completely f**ked and I'm not sure there's even much room to open more space. Even if they did it's just pushing a major problem down the road while getting rid of your franchise QB in the same window (not to mention losing all of your starting receivers across 2 consecutive offseasons)... doesn't make sense. Dimitroff chased the successful year and sold off future assets (cap space) to do so, but could never replace Shanahan - they're paying for it now.
Panthers... who the f**k knows. Their GM seems shit. Dude went out and specifically targeted some seriously shitty OL guys last year (signed day 1 of free agency, so we know they were priority targets). I don't understand what they've done there at all, and I guess they're gun shy after giving away far too much for shitty Darnold? - who they're still on the hook for at the same rate as Baker.
Seahawks may be waiting but unwilling to spend draft capital to take on that cap hit. I guess they might be happy to take Lock into a season and draft someone like Ridder in day 2, and only bother with a vet if they get them cheap.
Jimmy G is in a similar boat, though maybe he lands in Carolina (because surely the 49ers won't trade him to Seattle) and Baker either winds up on the Seahawks or sits out the year with agreement from the Browns, similar to Watson and the Texans last year. I can't imagine they want him in the locker room after going after his character in public. Shit, the 'adult in the room' comments were amazing given who they were chasing (and got). The guy who kept making himself available through a shitload of injuries vs the guy who refused to play for his last team a year after signing a contract and is currently dealing with 22 civil sexual assault cases.
/essay
