Baker Mayfield hasn’t done himself any favors since learning of his official demise in Cleveland after the Browns traded for his replacement, DeShaun Watson. The 22 civil cases for sexual misconduct still pending for Watson weren’t enough to scare the Browns away, which meant the end of Mayfield’s career in Cleveland. Now Baker feels disrespected and hasn’t been shy in sharing his feelings about the situation. And he did just that on the YNK Podcast earlier this week.
“I feel disrespected,” Mayfield said. “One-hundred percent because I was told one thing, and they completely did another. That’s what I’m in the middle of right now. I got my taste of it because I’ve had four different head coaches in four years, a bunch of different coordinators.”
“I would love to show up to somebody’s cubicle and just boo the shit out of them,” Mayfield said. “Watch them crumble.”
Mayfield is bringing the smoke to anybody within earshot. He’s calling out the Browns organization. He even had words for the Cleveland fans who booed him last season. The Browns aren’t without blame in this situation, either. As Baker mentioned, having multiple head coaches and offensive coordinators over such a short timeframe has something to do with it. But overall, Mayfield never lived up to the hype of being a No. 1 draft pick.
I’ve stated this plenty of times and stand by this sentiment: Mayfield’s an average NFL quarterback. In four years as the Browns starter, he won six games in three of those seasons. In 2020 Mayfield won 11 games, which is the one outlier year on his resume. Just because he’s average, though, doesn’t mean he isn’t still a starting caliber QB. And it doesn’t mean he isn’t entitled to feel the way he feels.
If Mayfield feels disrespected by the Browns telling him one thing initially then doing another, I completely understand that. According to Baker, Cleveland told him he’d be back for another year, then turned around and traded for Watson once the criminal sexual misconduct charges were dropped. I think anyone would be upset if it truly unfolded in that manner.
Here’s my question. How do Baker’s comments help him move forward in finding a new team? The simple answer is they don’t. Honestly, he sounds like someone that lacks awareness of the situation around him. Mayfield isn’t horrible, but he’s never been considered a bona fide top 10 QB. And if we look at performance on the field, no one is taking Baker over Deshaun. Morally once you add in off the field, most people outside the Browns organization would probably stay away from Watson. But then again, we know how the NFL is with morals, especially when it comes to women.
Then Baker wants to boo fans at their place of work to see how they like it. Dude, most people, sitting in a cubicle aren’t there to entertain the masses. Fans don’t pay to watch folks type emails. People pay to see Baker Mayfield throw a football as an NFL QB. They’ve literally paid to have the right to boo or cheer whoever they feel deserves it, whether it’s their team or the opponent.
I have no issue with that as long as fans don’t go overboard and throw around slurs and things of that nature. Yes, Mayfield was injured last season, but it’s not like he’d been great the entire four years in Cleveland. Fans finally had enough and were ready to admit they were wrong. They’ve realized Mayfield isn’t the guy.
Now Mayfield is available, and there isn’t much interest around the league. His coming out and blaming everybody else doesn’t look good and certainly won’t help him land a new gig. Once he’s healthy, I think Baker will find a new NFL home. I’m just not sure it will be as a starter initially. At the least, he’ll probably need to battle in training camp to win a starting job somewhere.
Mayfield would be an upgrade over Drew Lock in Seattle, but the Seahawks are probably waiting for the Browns to release Baker like every other team since they already know he won’t be returning to Cleveland. Louis Riddick of ESPN summed it up best in his advice to Baker.
“Talk less, do more.” Let’s see if Mayfield actually takes this advice or continues to tell anyone who will listen about how he’s been wronged. If I had to bet money on it, I’d go with the latter. On a lighter note, Mayfield turned 27 on Thursday, so happy birthday Baker. Hopefully, someone got him a clue this year.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
