Baker Mayfield’s playoff win for the Bucs makes you think about the Browns’ decision
If you were a Cleveland Browns fan, maybe you watched the Wild Card game on Monday night, maybe you didn’t. The fans that chose to watch the game likely came away with one thought, what if Baker Mayfield was still the quarterback in Cleveland? Mayfield won his second playoff game of his career on Monday […]
If you were a Cleveland Browns fan, maybe you watched the Wild Card game on Monday night, maybe you didn’t.
The fans that chose to watch the game likely came away with one thought, what if Baker Mayfield was still the quarterback in Cleveland?
Mayfield won his second playoff game of his career on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles and it was another game he played well in.
Against the Eagles, Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns. The former Browns quarterback did not turn the ball over on his way to advancing to the divisional round in the NFC.
Two off-seasons ago, Cleveland shipped Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers for a pick after they acquired Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans. It was rough sledding in 2022 for Mayfield between the Panthers, then the Los Angeles Rams.
While he was better with the Rams, he’s found a home in Florida. Mayfield has 28 touchdown passes to 10 interceptions while completing 64 percent of his passes. It has been a career year for Mayfield that should earn him a multi-year deal in Tampa Bay.
In his final season with the Browns in 2021, Mayfield played through a shoulder injury that he shouldn’t have in hindsight. It was the ending to his time with the team and what led them to try to make a splash trade for Watson.
Through two seasons, Watson has played in just 12 games for the Browns. Cleveland had to use five different quarterbacks in 2023 to crawl into the playoffs. One figures that a healthy Mayfield could have gotten their team to the playoffs too.
Of course, Mayfield is throwing the ball to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin now. But he never got to play with Amari Cooper or this form of David Njoku — he would have been just fine with both.
If Watson can put it all together next year, none of this will matter. But for right now, the Browns have lost the trade with the Texans until something changes and they’ll be watching their old quarterback make a playoff run.
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