Sept. 17, 2026, 3:04 p.m. ET
The marriage between the Cleveland Browns and Baker Mayfield was rocky. Mayfield went 29-30 as Cleveland’s starter, including an 11-win season and a playoff win that same year. Fans backed Mayfield, but that didn’t stop the franchise from shipping him to Carolina after making the worst trade in NFL history to acquire Deshaun Watson. It appears to be all love from Cleveland, at least from head coach Todd Monken, who sang Mayfield’s praises during a press conference recently:
“I wasn’t here, so I can’t speak to how it went.
I just know the competitor he is. I’ve said it all along, I wish I would’ve done a better job in ’19. You’ve got to own the things you can be better at. I can just tell you that you want your players wired like Baker Mayfield.”
Obviously, in hindsight, I guarantee Cleveland wishes they had kept Mayfield and left the Watson situation alone. With Cleveland set to draft a quarterback in the top five of the 2027 NFL Draft, they have a chance to start over once again.
