Bucs’ Baker Mayfield just got some major added motivation thanks to the Browns’ bizarre roster decision
Mayfield will face off with his replacement in Cleveland in Week 2, and Tampa Bay’s starting QB won’t lack for payback.
Baker Mayfield isn’t one who runs empty on his emotional fuel tank. Quite the opposite. The Tampa Buccaneers’ starting QB runs perhaps hotter and with more (outward) emotion than any signal caller in the league. It’s part of what makes him loved by his teammates and hated by a number of his opponents on the field, even though they respect him.
That all being said, Mayfield still holds one particular grudge, and it’s with the organization that drafted him — the Cleveland Browns. Mayfield started his first four years in the league with the Browns, helping the franchise to their only playoff win this century back in the 2020 season.
But things went south in March 2022. The Browns traded for Deshaun Watson from Houston and handed him a whopping five-year, $230 million deal. Mayfield asked out, and the Browns granted his request in a July 2022 trade to the Carolina Panthers.
Now, Mayfield and the Bucs will face off against Watson and the Browns in Week 2 in Tampa. Cleveland named Watson their starting quarterback on Monday morning.
Bucs and Baker Mayfield will face Deshaun Watson, the man who replaced him in Cleveland, in Week 2
It’s truly remarkable that the Browns named Watson their starter after the way his preseason has gone. Watson was 5/12 passing for 39 yards and an interception in Saturday’s 31-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
But aside from subpar play, Watson was booed heavily by Browns fans against the Bills on Saturday, something Watson addressed after the game.
“I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson said. “It’s a little bit personal in that, so I think that’s it’s a disrespectful thing. So yeah, I mean, I’m gonna keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that.”
The Browns could keep Watson on the roster as a backup and be none the worse off for things financially. And at this point, it’s worth seeing still what you have in Shedeur Sanders with a big QB draft class coming up in April.
But instead, the Browns are set to roll out Watson in Tampa. And in doing so, they might have just unleashed the beast further inside Mayfield on Sept. 20.
