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Baker Mayfield didn't get a fair shake in Cleveland. That's because the Browns unceremoniously dumped him to make room for the league's 38th-best quarterback.
Mayfield, one season removed from the Browns first and only playoff win since their 1999 rebirth, was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2022. His move cleared a path for the franchise to trade three first round picks and give $230 million fully guaranteed to Deshaun Watson, who has been a disaster on the field in Cleveland and was accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL described as "predatory behavior" off it dating back to his time with the Houston Texans.
Watson has been a failure in Ohio. Mayfield struggled in stops in Carolina and Los Angeles, then revived his career in Tampa Bay. That's where he'll get to face former coach Kevin Stefanski, who was fired by the Browns at the end of the 2025 season just to catch on with the Atlanta Falcons two weeks later.
Mayfield is looking forward to seeing him again, but there aren't any warm and fuzzy feelings between the two.
"Failed is quite the reach pal," Mayfield wrote on Twitter after Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter referred to Stefanski's Cleveland quarterbacks as a "dumpster fire." "Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach."
Mayfield is a quarterback powered by spite -- see his flag-planting antics in college. Now he gets to bottle that up for a divisional rivalry against the head coach who didn't advocate for him and instead allowed the Browns to continue drilling toward a rock bottom that may never be found. A wide-open NFC South didn't need more intrigue. It got it anyway with a coach/quarterback battle.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Baker Mayfield is still salty about Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski
Continue reading...
Mayfield, one season removed from the Browns first and only playoff win since their 1999 rebirth, was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2022. His move cleared a path for the franchise to trade three first round picks and give $230 million fully guaranteed to Deshaun Watson, who has been a disaster on the field in Cleveland and was accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL described as "predatory behavior" off it dating back to his time with the Houston Texans.
Watson has been a failure in Ohio. Mayfield struggled in stops in Carolina and Los Angeles, then revived his career in Tampa Bay. That's where he'll get to face former coach Kevin Stefanski, who was fired by the Browns at the end of the 2025 season just to catch on with the Atlanta Falcons two weeks later.
Mayfield is looking forward to seeing him again, but there aren't any warm and fuzzy feelings between the two.
"Failed is quite the reach pal," Mayfield wrote on Twitter after Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter referred to Stefanski's Cleveland quarterbacks as a "dumpster fire." "Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach."
Mayfield is a quarterback powered by spite -- see his flag-planting antics in college. Now he gets to bottle that up for a divisional rivalry against the head coach who didn't advocate for him and instead allowed the Browns to continue drilling toward a rock bottom that may never be found. A wide-open NFC South didn't need more intrigue. It got it anyway with a coach/quarterback battle.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Baker Mayfield is still salty about Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski
Continue reading...
