3 reasons Baker Mayfield should spurn the Browns if they call
The Cleveland Browns have been trying to part ways with Baker Mayfield since signing Deshaun Watson. There is a chance they want Mayfield back.
The Cleveland Browns may be without their newly acquired quarterback Deshaun Watson due to an impeding penalty being handed down by the NFL.
If the Browns decide to ask Baker Mayfield to step back into his starting role he should refuse. Here is why.
Baker Mayfield has gone from zero to hero?
The Cleveland Browns were the laughing stock of the National Football League until Baker Mayfield arrived as the first-round pick of the Browns in 2018 and they went from 0-16 in 2017 to an 11-5 team in 2020.
That year the Browns reached the playoffs for the first time in 18 years and not only did they make the playoffs but they won their first playoff game in the Wild Card round versus their long-time rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They lost in the next round of the playoffs narrowly to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Browns didn’t rebound as well as expected finishing the 2021 season with an 8-9 record and missed the playoffs.
One of the issues with the decline in the 2021 season was due to Mayfield playing through an injured shoulder and a rise in the talent of the AFC North; most noticeably with the Cincinnati Bengals who made it to the Super Bowl. (It should be noted the Browns demolished the Bengals earlier in the season with Mayfield at quarterback)
Mayfield clearly did not accomplish this turnaround by himself but was armed with several dynamic offensive and defensive weapons.
This was accomplished with Mayfield as the leader of the Browns while also cycling through different head coaches and coordinators for two seasons before settling on Kevin Stefanski.
The general consensus would be that Mayfield would be rewarded with a contract extension after turning a franchise around in three seasons to a place where they were now a respected team throughout the league. Wrong.
The Browns front office, streamlined by general manager Andrew Berry, opted instead to ignore any extension proposition for Mayfield and to instead sign ex-Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson to a $230 million dollar fully guaranteed contract.
Watson is currently being sued for sexual misconduct by over 20 women and the number continues to grow as quickly as this article is being typed.
The disrespect has reached catastrophic levels and the gratitude for his contribution to the team’s rise to success is non-existent. But it does not end there.