Baker Mayfield may be quarterbacking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but his fallout with the Cleveland Browns back in 2022 is hard to forget.
In the last week Mayfield opened up about the unceremonious end to his Browns tenure on the Pardon My Take Podcast. Just days later Browns guard Wyatt Teller also reflected on the situation and how the team's pursuit of current QB Deshaun Watson made the situation untenable at the times. Believe it or not though, Teller believes an alternative outcome was possible had Mayfield handled things a little bit differently.
"I think Baker has matured enough to where he would even say this," said Teller in an interview with Tyler Dunne of Go Long. "I truly believe when they were talking to Deshaun, if Baker just said, 'Hey man, it’s going to be OK. I have one more year on my deal. Everything’s going to be OK,’ and just played, I truly believe he still would’ve been the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. I don’t how every conversation went. I have no idea. But I’m just saying, he was beloved in Cleveland by the ownership, by the team, by the coaches, by the players, everybody. By the fans. So I think that he should have let calmer heads prevail."
It's an interesting thought from Teller on how things could have played out with the 2018 No. 1 overall pick. Unfortunately, Mayfield didn't take that approach at the time.
Instead, rumors of the Browns pursuits of Watson left him feeling betrayed by the organization, prompting his infamous notes app farewell to Cleveland. Initially the Browns rejected his trade offer and when conversations with Watson broke down it put them in a precarious situation. After circling back with Watson and offering him a five-year, $230 million fully-fully-guaranteed extension he agreed to accept a trade to the Browns.
That ultimately led to Mayfield being traded later that summer. It's had to know if the Browns could have made it work with Watson and Mayfield sharing a quarterback room. Teller seems to think it could have though.
"My mindset in the NFL is — and maybe this is because I’m an offensive lineman — they’re always drafting, they’re always looking to have your replacement," said Teller. "Even if you play for 10 years in the NFL, it’s good to have guys who are good behind you. And the way he viewed it was, 'Wow, they’re giving up on me.” And I just truly believe that if Baker was like, 'Hey, calmer heads prevail,' I think he would still be the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns."
