Off-season thoughts (Vol. XVI) 

What in the world were the Browns thinking when they aimed their crosshairs at quarterback Deshaun Watson in an attempt to pry him loose from the Houston Texans?

The fact the Texans did not discourage them from trying was a land mine waiting to go off because this little adventure had no chance, at best, of succeeding. It was folly, pipe dreaming to think the Browns would pull this one off. 

Of course, that's easy to say now that Watson has dismissed them from the four-team sweepstakes seeking his services this season. As a result, the front office has squeezed themselves into a very uncomfortable corner with regard to Baker Mayfield.

Technically, Mayfield is still the club's starting quarterback. Says so right there on the active roster. He is under contract for one more season for nearly $19 million. Problem is he doesn't want to be. Under contract and on the roster, that is. Starting quarterback in Cleveland, too. 

He has had enough with the team that made him the first overall pick in the 2018 National Football League college draft. Said so in what appeared to be a goodbye letter posted Tuesday on social media to Browns fans and the city. 

Reportedly, the Browns had informed Mayfield's people at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine recently that they would investigate making a move at quarterback if an elite candidate became available. That became Watson after he was cleared of criminal sexual assault charges last weekend in Houston.

That's when the Browns struck, entering the sweepstakes for the "elite" Watson surreptitiously. They conveniently failed to inform Mayfield's people once Watson had entered the picture. 

The Browns apparently didn't bank on social media eventually outing them. Their Tuesday face-to-face visit with Watson went viral and ratcheted up the interest from a Cleveland standpoint. Mayfield responded with his goodbye letter.

His ego was bruised. His feelings were hurt. That's when he struck with his letter, which had to upset the Cleveland front office. At that point, though, he probably couldn't care less what they thought.

He reportedly asked to be traded. The Browns reportedly said no. A conundrum orchestrated solely by a bumbling front office that had to know what the repercussions would be if the Watson plan failed. And yet nobody spoke up and said this would not turn out well.

It harkens back to the bad, old days with Sashi Brown, Carmen Policy, Butch Davis, Phil Savage, Mike Holmgren, Joe Banner (for a little while), Ray Farmer and Mike Lombardi calling the shots. There were other culpable lesser lights, but you catch my drift.

Can't wait to hear this crew explain away this embarrassing screwup as if nothing happened. Their accountability quotient will be challenged. 

Incompetence, which had taken a vacation with the arrival of General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, is back. Vacation over. They, presumably with the approval of owner Jimmy Haslam III and Chief Strategy Office Paul DePodesta, really screwed this one up. All are culpable.

Their sales pitch to Watson no doubt focused on the quality talent on their roster, most notably on offense with an improving defense. He would be the missing piece that would take this franchise deep into the playoffs not only this season, but the next several.

But the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers entered the competition with similar offensive weapons and nice defenses, which probably made it easy to eliminate the Browns when other factors entered into the decision process for Watson, who was born about an hour from Atlanta.

In doing their homework, the Browns' brass failed to take into consideration four very important items that gave them the longest odds of succeeding. 

Watson had the power of the veto in his trade clause. He used it on the Browns. All of the remaining competitors played in the NFC. The AFC Texans would have to face Watson only once every four years. With the AFC Browns, it conceivably could have been every season.

And then there were geographic and weather issues. The Saints and Falcons play under a dome. So did Watson for four seasons in Houston. As for the weather, who in his right mind wants to play football in Cleveland in November, December and beyond if he didn't have to?

Let's face it. Cleveland isn't nearly as exciting as New Orleans or Atlanta. I was born in Cleveland. Lived most of my adult life and raised a family there. It's not New Orleans or Atlanta. That Carolina didn't make the final two also lends more credence to that notion.

So how does the Mayfield situation end? Do the Browns wait him out and try reconciling between now and training camp in hopes of changing his mind? That depends on how adamant the Mayfield people are of moving on. 

From an unrealistic standpoint, about the only way to mollify Mayfield now during these difficult times would be to offer him a multi-year contract extension worth nine figures. But that's not going to happen, either. The Browns' dysfunction goes just so far. 

The guess is the Browns will relent, get as much as they can for Mayfield on the trade market -- they should be happy if they get as much as a second-round draft pick -- and turn the offense over to a quarterback best suited to operate a Stefanski offense.

Case Keenum, who should have played more last season for a badly banged up Mayfield, is still on the roster. And he knows how to run a Stefanski offense.