
At the 2018 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield was asked about the Cleveland Browns and what he could bring to that franchise. The Browns were recently coming off of an 0-16 season which had been preceded by a 1-15 season before that and then a 3-13 season before that. This was also a Browns organization that had over 25 different starting quarterbacks since the 2000 season. Not exactly ideal.
Naturally, Mayfield responded to the reporters question the same way that any draft prospect would. He said “If anyone can turn them (the Browns) around, it’s me.” The Browns would go on to draft Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and Mayfield would eventually win the starting QB job in his fourth game of his rookie season. That is a position that he has held for the past three and a half seasons.
Fast forward to today and the Browns are in the news again for their dealings with yet another quarterback. It was revealed on Tuesday that that managers in the Browns organization had flown down to Houston, Texas to arrange a meeting with DeShaun Watson to bring him in as their new quarterback. Watson did not play a single game during the 2021 season due to 22 different pending sexual assault allegations against him. This news came after the Browns had told Mayfield’s agents during the 2022 Combine that Baker was going to be their guy and the Browns were committed to him.
Mayfield responded to these rumors on social media Tuesday evening by issuing a heartfelt thank you letter to the city of Cleveland and the Browns organization given the uncertainties surrounding his future with the team. To which the Browns told NFL insiders on Wednesday that they were looking for an “adult” to be the quarterback of their team. Interesting statements coming an organization who is trying to pick up a man with 22 sexual assault allegations hanging over his head to lead their team in 2022.
It should also be noted that Watson officially took Cleveland out of his desired destinations on Thursday morning as well. So now Cleveland has upset their current quarterback of four years, and the guy that they were trying to claim has said that he doesn’t even want to play for the team.
But how did we get here? Mayfield said he was the guy to turn around the franchise, so why if the franchise trying to trade him away? Simply put, the Browns, under the leadership of Mayfield, began to win again, and Cleveland fans forgot how to act. The Browns began to show flashes of what they could be in the future and fans cranked up their expectations way too fast. I guess that’s what happens though when you’ve spent the better part of the past 20 years fighting for last place in your division and the entire NFL.
Given this, Browns fans and the entire organization have grown unappreciative of what exactly Mayfield has done for the franchise. In Mayfield’s first year as the starting quarterback, the Browns won more games than the three years before Mayfield arrived combined. They probably could’ve won a lot more than they did in his second year if they hired the right coach. But they failed to do that and the Browns had yet another subpar season.
That being said, subpar is far and away better than what they were getting in the years before Mayfield.
Then the Browns bring in Kevin Stefanski for the 2020 season and the Browns go 11-5. To me, this season is the true measure of what the Browns can actually be with Mayfield. I think Stefanski is the right coach for the style that fits Mayfield the best and they can have great success in the future. I mean the Browns were one bad call away from playing in the AFC Championship this year. Baker led the team to their first playoff win sine 1994 and their first playoff appearance since 2002.
Injuries and Covid related issues are the reason why the 2021 season went off the rails for the Browns. Mayfield essentially played 14 of 17 games with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. And he still led the Browns to a 8-9 record and flirted with playoff contention. And suddenly people were calling for him to be traded. Had they already forgotten about the success of the 2020 season? Did the fans not recognize that their quarterback played all season with a messed up shoulder because he loves the fans and the organization too much to quit on them?
The fact of the matter is that when the Browns and Mayfield are fully healthy, they are an AFC Championship caliber team. And it is shameful that the Browns front office can’t see or recognize that.
Now, has Mayfield been absolutely stellar during his time in Cleveland? Certainly not. However, in the four years that he has been there, he has had only one coach who has been there longer than one single season, and that is Stefanski. And Baker has really only had him for one year too considering he was hurt the entirety of Stefanski’s second year. A healthy Baker with Stefanski with his coach though went 11-5 and went on the road and pushed the Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs to the brink of elimination in the divisional round of the 2021 NFL Playoffs.
And while Mayfield hasn’t been stellar in his four years in Cleveland, he has been better than anything the Browns had before him. And there is no denying that. You don’t trade away the guy who lead you to your first playoff win in 28 years because he had a bad year playing on a bad shoulder. If the Browns move away from Mayfield, it will just go down as another mistake made by a poorly managed franchise.
The Browns have their guy and they have their coach. Making the wrong decision here could lead to another decade-plus of trials and misfortune. But maybe that just what the Browns are destined to do and to receive. If they can’t recognize what they have, then they don’t deserve it and they never will.
Comments by Trey Dallas