THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Baker is still an option, if Seahawks are patient

It could still happen.

Maybe.

But if we go down this road, there will be all kinds of fuss.

Who cares?

Yes, I’m talking about the Seahawks snagging Baker Mayfield and installing him as QB1 — despite all the current conversation about “real competition” between Drew Lock and Geno Smith.

I hope Mayfield arrives, because the Seahawks have made some serious improvements elsewhere on the roster, and now need a quarterback.

Look …

Pro football coaches can tell you anything at all with a straight face, even if it’s complete nonsense.

They are not talking for our benefit, but for the players on their roster — or even some who might eventually join that group.

Hence, Pete Carroll’s dead-serious insistence that Drew Lock has this huge, untapped ceiling that those clowns in Denver somehow couldn’t unlock.

I’m not even going to address Pete’s claim that Smith is in the battle to be Seattle’s starting QB.

Giggle.

WHY ALL the mystery about Mayfield, then?

The guy is miles better than Lock, Smith and anyone else remotely available to the Seahawks in 2022.

OK, start with the fact that Cleveland still has Mayfield under contract — a guaranteed fifth-year option for $18.8 million, in fact.

The Browns, who have given solid citizen Deshaun Watson the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history — perhaps not for his work with women’s rights — and intend to play him every down allowed by the league.

Cleveland also has signed backup Jacoby Brissett, who has been a starter for the Colts, and even hauled in Josh Dobbs, former Steelers backup, as the No. 3 clipboard-holder.

The Browns want rid of Mayfield, but the issue so far is that they also hope to unload his contract — and that hasn’t amused any potential trade partners.

Carolina, which has Sam Darnold and rookie Matt Corral, chatted with Cleveland about Mayfield, but had no interest in his contract.

But here’s the thing …

Sometime before training camp, Cleveland may be forced simply to turn Mayfield loose entirely.

If Baker becomes a free agent with some or all of that $18.8 million, the amount depending on possible negotiations with the Browns …

Well, that’s a different story entirely.

It would be almost unthinkable for Seattle to pass up a chance to rehabilitate Mayfield, who played last season with a badly damaged shoulder.

Again, to repeat …

Baker Mayfield is a universe or two better than Drew Lock.

THREE things jump immediately to mind, all of which suggest the Seahawks would gladly sign Mayfield.

Let’s start with the fact that, just because nothing has happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t.

The Browns are holding out for a trade, maybe thinking Carolina will cave in, or another team will suffer an injury at quarterback.

But Cleveland cannot just hang on to a $19 million player who refuses to show up.

“Baker Mayfield potentially being cut is one of the options, and I believe that it is an option that is very, very much on the table,” said former NFL quarterback and Seattle radio host Jake Heaps.

“This is something that I don’t think is farfetched. I don’t think this is a media creation whatsoever.”

Our second item is that Mayfield’s personality — let’s call it spiky and sometimes erratic — wouldn’t bother Carroll at all.

This is a coach who has dealt long-term with Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas (who gave him the finger on national TV), and brought Marshawn Lynch back from retirement with hugs and smiles.

Trust me, Pete and Baker would get along just fine — because the bottom line is that Mayfield might make Seattle a contender.

FINALLY, assuming that Lock doesn’t have some miracle ascendency into the circle of elite quarterbacks (massively unlikely), all these other scenarios we’ve heard make no sense.

The most common theory is that the Seahawks are willing to roll with Lock or Smith, basically tossing away one season of everyone’s prime, and find their franchise quarterback in the class of 2023.

This idea stems from the fact that everyone in the league is pretty sure Lock can’t improve much, and therefore assumes Seattle is keeping its powder dry for next year’s quarterback-rich draft.

There are problems with that plan, however, not the least of which is that the 71-year-old Carroll probably isn’t keen on throwing away a season for future planning.

BESIDES that, however (assuming the evergreen Carroll does intend to coach forever), there is no guarantee that the Seahawks could land the QB they want.

Sure, given this season’s schedule, they might be drafting high, and they have a boatload of picks to trade up if necessary, but still …

They’d be getting a rookie to run the offense, and check to see how many first-year quarterbacks have made the Super Bowl.

So, suddenly, you’re talking about the Seahawks being a serious factor, when?

In 2024?

Does that sound like Pete Carroll and John Schneider?

Not to me, it doesn’t.

The best of all worlds would be to grab Mayfield on a sensible, prove-yourself contract, and then draft a QB next year — but only if necessary.

Imagine using all those 2023 picks to load up around a terrific quarterback.

Just sayin’.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason, and weekly beginning in October.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”