The Baker Mayfield Era
More highs led to the most painful lows
Wednesday made official what had been extremely clear for months: Baker Mayfield will not be playing for the Cleveland Browns next year.
Mayfield was finally traded to Carolina for a measly conditional late-round pick in 2024, and in return the Browns still have to pay for most of his salary this season. It’s the end of an offseason from hell for Mayfield, and it marks the end of the most successful quarterback the Browns have had in my lifetime.
Yeah, these are the numbers of the most successful Browns quarterback of the 21st century. Really despicable stuff this team has put me through.
What made him the most successful? Well for starters, he is one of two quarterbacks this century to have his team say CLE in that little “Playoffs” tab above, and he’s the only quarterback to have a win go with it.
Baker’s tenure with the Browns led to more optimism than I have ever had with this team. Drafting Johnny Manziel was, at the time, very fun, and Derek Anderson sure did go to a Pro Bowl, but Baker was the guy that felt like he was going to solve this organization’s problems, the antidote to the bubonic plague that has decimated this stupid little team since it came back to the NFL.
Instead, he was more like NyQuil, a little reprieve to alleviate some symptoms of the filth, but who couldn’t be the fix-all solution to a cursed organization.
I didn’t watch Baker Mayfield get drafted.
For most fans, having the No. 1 pick in a draft would be enough to tune in no matter what is going on in the world. That should have been doubly true this night, when the Browns held the No. 1 and 4 picks. But I couldn’t be bothered. I’d been there far too many times with this team. Instead, I saw “Avengers: Infinity War,” a decision I do not regret to this day.
I expected to come out to the Browns drafting Sam Darnold, the safe project guy who could develop into something special. Instead, they went bold and took Mayfield, the guy I legitimately wanted out of college because I fall in love with the cocky adrenaline junky signal callers (see: Manziel, above).
And man, adrenaline would be exactly how I’d describe that 2018 season. Sure, the Browns went 7-8-1, a mark that most fans would not strive for. But holy shit, 7-8-1 felt like heaven on Earth compared to the 1-31 of the years prior. Along with that, it was the way the Browns got to this record that was exciting, with Mayfield being the gunslinger that was promised immediately upon getting game action. I will never forget the Jets game.
To go with the Baker hype, Nick Chubb was dominating on the ground as a rookie, and all of this came with an interim head coach (Gregg Williams) and an offensive coordinator (Freddie Kitchens) that looked like some dude that would hug you at the bar after a touchdown was scored.
That was the first high of the Baker era, a year full of all the promise in the world that Cleveland would finally, finally, be out of the NFL’s gutter.
Then 2019 happened.
It turned out hiring the lovable Kitchens as head coach may have been not good, and my god did Mayfield suffer for it. This was a tragedy of a season, a 6-10 record that felt as bad, if not worse, than the 0-16 year that happened two seasons prior.
Then 2020 happened.
After a disasterclass of an opening week (38-6 L to Baltimore), the Browns immediately won four straight, eventually getting to 9-3, then eventually beating the Steelers in the final week of the season to reach 11-5 and get to the postseason. I was so happy I popped a bottle of champagne for simply making it to the Wild Card round.
Baker was very good this year, exactly what he needed to be. In Kevin Stefanski’s offense, he wasn’t asked to play hero, and he responded with improved accuracy and less interceptions while Chubb and Kareem Hunt did The Thing (run the ball extremely well).
But best of all, it was Baker Mayfield who led the Browns to a damn playoff win, the first in my lifetime. It was against the damn Steelers, an absolute thumping of the team I have hated the most all my life. Baker was excellent in that game: 21/34 for 263 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs, and he did it with a COVID-decimated roster.
It’s one of the best nights of my life, and I will never forget Ben Roethlisberger crying on the sideline after. It still brings a smile to my face.
Sure, the Browns lost to the Chiefs. Sure it was the Chad Henne Chiefs, but there was no reason to assume that Cleveland wouldn’t be right back in this situation next year. No reason to assume that besides, well, the entire history of this forsaken franchise.
Of course, then, 2021 happened.
Was Baker hurt to the point where he was an absolute tragedy almost every time he saw the field last season? It’s possible. But goodness man, it was DREADFUL watching this dude play football in 2021. The Browns were as talented as they ever have been and sure, maybe the defense had its bad days or whatever. But this team just needed satisfactory play at quarterback to make the postseason, and it never got that, not even close.
The Browns had six one-score losses last season, five in games Baker played in. Each one of those five games gave Baker a chance to go down the field and win his team a game.
He didn’t.
Chiefs - Down 33-29, 2:49 to go, drive start at CLE 17 - Interception
Chargers - Down 47-42, 1:31 to go, drive start at CLE 25 - Turnover on Downs
Steelers - Down 15-10, 4:22 to go, drive start at CLE 39 - Turnover on Downs
Ravens - Down 16-10, 1:10 to go, drive start at CLE 25 - Turnover on Downs
Packers - Down 24-22, 2:05 to go, drive start at CLE 25 - Interception
Great quarterbacks, and even good ones, find ways to move the ball in at least some of these situations. Baker folded every single time in 2021. This was a clear issue that cost the Browns a postseason opportunity, and choking to this magnitude can not be completely chalked up to injury.
But if Baker Mayfield was simply bad last year, this Hoopla is probably a post looking back to the glory of 2020. And therein lies the problem with Baker: he can’t just be bad, he has to be loud and bad.
Baker, for better or worse, speaks his mind and will not go quietly into the night with his performances. When this leads to great showings and victories, it is exhilarating. Hell yes I own a shirt that says “I woke up feeling dangerous,” that shit was incredible. On the flip side, hearing Baker complain about the fanbase when it was going south was annoying at best, embarrassing at worst. I would simply play good football if you want the crowd to cheer for you, but what do I know.
I’m bitter because Baker Mayfield made me bitter. He soured over time, dividing the fanbase on how much people wanted to believe 2020 is the norm and 2021 is the anomaly or vice versa. Players are allowed to speak their minds however they like, but to act like Browns fans were wrong for critiquing Baker’s horrific play last year is foolish.
Well, now Baker is gone. Headache at quarterback over, right? Ha ha ha ha, haaaaaa.
Kudos to the Browns, who somehow did what seemed impossible: they made me want Baker back at quarterback in 2022. I’ve already voiced my thoughts on the Deshaun Watson situation and I’ve only gotten more pissed since writing that. One thing is certain now: I can not and will not root for this team whenever that man is able to play.
I get the worst of both worlds because Mr. Mayfield is now in Carolina, where I will get to watch him every week in my current city of residence. Great! The Panthers also play the Browns in Charlotte Week 1 as a little bonus, fun!
So, what do I think of the Baker era? The highs were by far the highest I have experienced as a Browns fan. As years pass and the Browns either suck, have a dirtbag at quarterback or both, I will likely appreciate that playoff win more and more.
But for now, the Baker era stands out as much for those peaks as it does the painful, agonizing valleys. Being a laughingstock for years on end was terrible, but brutally underperforming twice in three seasons with everyone watching hurt so much worse, and a lot of that has to fall on Baker’s shoulders.
I don’t hate Baker, but I didn’t really like him by the time he was done in Cleveland. To his credit though, what he did do was ignite a fire that had not been in any iteration of this team that I ever knew. I will miss that, especially with how much it has been extinguished and stomped on this offseason.
So thank you Baker Mayfield, for the playoff win and that big smile that both you and I had after it. You gave me some real, legitimate highs for a team that hadn’t had them in ages. I’ll try and forget about last year as much as you would probably like to.
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