BROWNS NOT THE ONLY ONES WANTING BAKER
Bills president resigns his post
Baker Mayfield’s agent reveals the New England Patriots were considering a trade to move up to the No. 2 spot if Cleveland passed on him in the draft.
In an alternate universe, the Giants could have traded the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to … the New England Patriots?
Jack Mills, Baker Mayfield’s agent, said on a podcast that if Mayfield were available at No. 2, the Patriots were considering a stunning move to nab the Oklahoma quarterback.
“Another team had said, ‘You may get a big surprise on draft day at No. 2, if he’s available.’ And it was the Patriots,” Mills said Tuesday on “The Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt.” “They had 23, and they had 31, (they had) two seconds. We thought, ‘That’s going to be a heck of a move to get up that high to where they are,’ and of course, he wasn’t available. We didn’t know if that was a reality or not.”
Mayfield met with the Patriots a week before the draft and, according to The Athletic, it was Josh McDaniels who hinted to Mayfield’s camp that they would be willing to trade up in order to get an interview with the Heisman Trophy winner, who kept declining the Patriots’ requests because they held the No. 23 pick.
Giants GM Dave Gettleman, however, was dead set on taking Penn State running back Saquon Barkley with his pick, so much so that he said he did not even entertain trade offers.
“They went Mayfield; we were taking Saquon,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
But what if the Browns had taken Barkley instead?
That’s where things could have gotten interesting and the Giants could have traded out of the pick.
Mills said Mayfield had visited with the Giants, but their impressions were that they “never thought they were going to take a quarterback.”
BILLS: Russ Brandon abruptly resigned his dual role as president of the NFL Buffalo Bills and NHL Buffalo Sabres after being confronted by the teams’ owners regarding an inappropriate relationship with a female employee, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter, and owners Terry and Kim Pegula did not provide a reason for accepting Brandon’s resignation in a statement they released Tuesday.
The relationship in question first became apparent to a number of team employees in late December, when the Sabres were in New York City to play the Rangers at the NHL’s Winter Classic, the people said.
Kim Pegula will take over Brandon’s roles overseeing the Bills, Sabres and Pegula Sports Entertainment, the company that controls the owners’ numerous holdings.
In a text to The Associated Press, Brandon said he has contemplated stepping down from the job for some time, and felt the timing was right after the conclusion of the NFL draft.
“My goal when the Pegulas purchased the franchise was to reach 20 years with the Bills, in which I achieved this past November,” Brandon wrote.
RAIDERS: Oakland offensive lineman Vadal Alexander has been suspended without pay for the first four games next season for a violation of the league policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Raiders made the announcement Tuesday, attributing the information to the NFL. Alexander won’t be eligible to play until an Oct. 7 road game against the Chargers. He can return to practice Oct. 1, a day after the Raiders host Cleveland.
The 24-year-old offensive guard played in 15 games for Oakland last season with four starts and has appeared in 24 games overall with nine starts in two NFL seasons.
A seventh-round draft pick in 2016 out of LSU, Alexander can take part in offseason workouts with the team, preseason practices and preseason games.
FALCONS: After completing the draft without a fullback on their roster, the Atlanta Falcons have added two candidates who were undrafted college free agents.
Among the 27 undrafted players who have agreed to terms with Atlanta are fullbacks Luke McNitt of Nebraska and Daniel Marx of Stanford. Barring other roster moves, one of the two could open the season as the starter.
Fullback was a priority position in the Falcons’ search for college free agents because 2017 starter Derrick Coleman was not re-signed.
The Falcons also agreed to terms with running backs Demario Richard of Arizona State, Emmanuel Smith of Vanderbilt and Malik Williams of Louisville and Virginia quarterback Kurt Benkert.
Two in-state players, Georgia kicker David Marvin and Georgia State defensive end Mackendy Cheridor, also agreed to terms. VIKINGS: Only time will tell how sweet Terence Newman’s 16th season in the NFL turns out to be.
The oldest active defensive player in the league is almost certain, though, it will be his last.
“You have to figure out something else that you want to do, once you get to my age,” Newman said on a conference call with Minnesota reporters on Tuesday, the day after re-upping with the Vikings. “I think this will be my last year. No matter what happens, this will be it for me.”
Newman, who will turn 40 just five days before Minnesota’s season opener, has given head coach Mike Zimmer and the Vikings plenty of value for the series of low-risk one-year contracts they have signed him to.