An NFL team reportedly hired a private investigator to follow Baker Mayfield before his pro day

Some NFL team is likely to entrust its future to Baker Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback out of Oklahoma, by making him one of the top picks at the NFL draft next month.

Mayfield has been compared to another recent Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, who was a first-round pick for the Cleveland Browns but was out of the NFL two years later after his numerous off-field issues overshadowed anything he did on the field.

So it kind of makes sense that pro teams might want to do everything they can to make sure they won’t be making a similar mistake by drafting Mayfield, who was arrested last offseason on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct and received negative attention during the season for planting an Oklahoma flag in the middle of the Ohio State logo on the field and for grabbing his crotch while pointing to the Kansas bench.

But one team might have gone too far in doing their due diligence on Mayfield. This is from a Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback article Thursday about the events surrounding Mayfield’s pro day at Oklahoma earlier this week:

“Mayfield received an alert from a trusted source that he had a tail in Norman. A private investigator, he was told, was tracking his movements on behalf of a team. The MMQB was unable to verify the identity of that team, but it should come as no surprise that any NFL franchise considering a (minimum) four-year commitment and tens of millions of dollars to a 22-year-old might like to know how he spends nights near his old stomping grounds.”

Incidentally, MMQB writer Robert Klemko spoke to several of Mayfield’s coaches and teammates, past and present, and got nothing but glowing reviews about the player who completed 70.5% of his passes for 4,627 yards with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2017.

“He’s a great kid, and he works his ass off,” said Jimmy Clausen, the former NFL quarterback who serves as Mayfield’s private coach. “That’s really what people have wanted to know.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii