Baker Mayfield Was Never the Answer for the Cleveland Browns

Since he arrived in Tampa Bay, whenever the Buccaneers need a big drive in the regular season, Baker Mayfield has consistently found a way to deliver. And every time he finds a way to pull off the miracle win, Browns fans lose their mind that they let their “golden goose” go.

The eccentric Mayfield has found a way to rejuvenate his career in Florida, and he’s made sure the Browns organization knows they made a huge mistake letting him go.

Categorically speaking, the Cleveland Browns have been in a worse spot since letting Baker Mayfield go. Saying that they whiffed on the Deshaun Watson trade is an understatement. His trade and contract extension will go down as one of the worst moves in the history of the NFL.

I’m just not willing to concede that moving on from Mayfield wasn’t the right move for the Browns at the time. Baker was never an elite QB for the Browns, and moving him for Watson, a player seen as one of the best in the sport, was the right move in a football sense.

2018:
QB Rating: 19th
QBR: 10th

2019:
QB Rating: 31st
QBR: 19th

2020:
QB Rating: 15th
QBR: 10th

2021:
QB Rating: 27th
QBR: 27th

I know these stats aren’t a perfect way to encapsulate the impact of a quarterback. Still, I think they do a solid job of painting a picture of what is, at best, a very average quarterback, to more realistically, a below-average one.

Baker always claims that he was just getting going in Cleveland. However, when he tried to play through his shoulder injury in the 2021 season, he wasted a talented roster and was a key reason this team didn’t return to the playoffs after an exciting season the year prior.

He blames everyone else but himself for his failure in Cleveland. This team built him an elite offensive line, a great rushing game with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, and he always had decent enough receivers to throw to.

Not to mention some great defenses to help him as well. I know there was always some amount of drama surrounding the Browns, but Baker was not a good enough QB for the Browns, plain and simple.

Unfortunately, the Browns moved on from Baker, a guy whose personality makes him easy to root for, to bring in, maybe, the worst human in the NFL. Not only did they bring in a terrible guy, they shipped out a ton of picks and now are locked into this horrific contract for a guy who can’t even make it on the field. And when he’s even out there, he’s looked like one of the worst quarterbacks since the Browns returned to Cleveland, which is incredibly difficult to do.

I just don’t see a universe where Baker ever works out in Cleveland. Also, it’s not like the Panthers or Rams were chomping at the bit to keep this guy in town. It feels like he bounced around enough and fell into an absolutely perfect situation with Tampa Bay.

If you administered truth serum to all Buccaneers fans and asked them if they believe Baker Mayfield is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, many of them would reveal their true feelings. He’s an average quarterback, once again in a fantastic situation.

Last season, Baker was the second-least pressured quarterback on deep drop-backs. The only other player pressured less was Jalen Hurts, who went on to win a Super Bowl, and no other player receives more claims of being overrated than Hurts. That same hate just doesn’t happen for Mayfield.

Also, even with this elite protection, Baker was 4th in the NFL in negative plays last season, only behind Caleb Williams, Geno Smith, and C.J. Stroud, guys who dealt with the worst offensive fronts in the sport.

Baker Mayfield creates a low ceiling and a high floor for your football team. It just so happens the Browns moved on from him for the worst quarterback in the NFL, on or off the field, so they will continue to get justified hate.

The process was correct, and if the Browns didn’t go for Watson, I would never hold this move against them. Baker Mayfield was never the answer in Cleveland.