Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield drama, overreaction the new normal
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield called out Duke Johnson, which caused some veterans to speak to him, leading to a complete overreaction.
Fresh off of everyone questioning Odell Beckham Jr. and his presence/non-presence at offseason workouts, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield arrived at the center of perceived drama. It all began when the second-year signal-caller spoke candidly about running back Duke Johnson and his public request for a trade out of Cleveland.
As reported by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Mayfield essentially said that the team has been “dealing with that” for a while in regards to Johnson’s trade request. The quarterback also made the pointed statement, “you’re either on this train or you’re not, it’s moving.” Given Mayfield’s outspoken nature, these comments were hardly surprising as he’s trying to lead the guys who want to be with the Browns.
That led to a report from NFL.com’s Michael Silver on Thursday that veteran players in Cleveland approached Mayfield to talk about how he addressed the situation. Silver noted the vets were not happy with it but that the two sides “hashed out their differences.” If you’ve seen anyone reacting to the news of the veterans and Mayfield talking, though, you’d think there was a resulting fist fight.
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Many people that had an opinion on the situation sang a similar tune. The reaction consisted of saying this situation shows that the “divas” and “drama” in the Browns locker room will ultimately lead to the team self-destructing — nevermind the fact that Mayfield and the veterans worked it out.
That kind of reaction was so prevalent that Cleveland wide receiver Jarvis Landry had to go out of his way on Friday and tell NFL.com that the situation with Mayfield was a “non-issue.” And really, it does seem like that’s the case.
Even the best of teams aren’t without their share of internal struggles. However, the successful teams work those things out, specifically in instances where veteran players guide young players on how to be better professionals and handle things moving forward. Looking at all of this, there seems to be nothing to the situation than that.
Having said that, this is the new normal for the Cleveland Browns. When you draft an outspoken quarterback, trade for an enigmatic wide receiver and make such a staunch leap forward in terms of roster building, every single thing that happens is going to be dissected. It’s the nature of sports media in the modern age when it comes to teams like this.
The important thing is that the Browns handle these things as they did here. If something happens that people jump on and overreact to, if the team handles things properly internally, they’re going to be fine and should continue their path to success. If things change in that regard, that’s when there should be a viable concern. Having said that, there are no signs of that happening right now.
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It may be frustrating, but fans in Cleveland should get used to this. It’s going to be a continuous news cycle of overreaction to “non-issues” that will eventually disipate. But as long as the new era of the Browns results in wins, it’ll be well worth weathering the overreaction storm.