The Cleveland Browns have a handful of dubious claims to fame, among them the lack of a true franchise QB stretching back decades.
But here’s the thing — they did have one. The decision-makers in Cleveland just didn’t realize it.
The Browns dumped Baker Mayfield following the 2021 season, four years after drafting the former Heisman Trophy winner No. 1 overall. And while it took Mayfield a while to find his footing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has been ascendant ever since.
Mayfield earned Pro-Bowl honors in each of the past two seasons, inking a $100 million contract with Tampa in March 2024. The Bucs have posted back-to-back winning campaigns with Mayfield under center, claiming consecutive NFC South Division titles and making the playoffs both years (1-2 postseason record).
Mayfield has started 40 of a possible 40 regular-season contests with Tampa Bay, and 43-of-43 possible games of all kinds. And following the team’s Week 6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, the Bucs are 5-1 in 2025, while Mayfield is garnering praise across the NFL landscape as an early frontrunner for MVP.
“If I was this crowd, I’d be chanting MVP right now,” CBS broadcaster and former pro QB Tony Romo said Sunday while calling Mayfield’s game.
“Remember when Baker Mayfield was a free agent quarterback? As in available? Tampa snatched him up & originally he signed on a 1-year $4M deal in 2023 before a $100M extension the next year,” Josina Anderson of CBS posted to X. “Moral of the story: DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE YOUR NARRATIVE. Lot of folks were wrong about him. Love the snarl at the end of this play. #Bucs.”
“Baker Mayfield is now the third favorite at +425 to win MVP,” PFF Betting posted to X.
Browns’ Trade, Contract for Deshaun Watson Arguably Worst 2 QB Moves in NFL History
GettyQuarterback Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.
While Mayfield has tallied 10,083 passing yards, 81 TDs and 27 INTs over his past three seasons with the Bucs (40 games/24-16 record), the guy that the Browns ditched him for has accomplished far less.
Deshaun Watson, now in the fourth year of his fully-guaranteed $230 million contract, is currently rehabilitating from a twice-torn Achilles tendon and has not taken a snap since October 20, 2024 — 357 days ago.
In Watson’s first three years with the franchise, he tallied 3,365 yards, 19 TDs and 12 INTs (19 games/9-10 record).
Browns Trying to Erase Deshaun Watson Errors With Rookie QBs Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders
GettyCleveland Browns quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders (left) and Dillon Gabriel (right).
Watson’s limited availability, the low quality of play he has produced when available and the off-field issues that have dogged him over the years, and the franchise by association, all have combined to render the contract to which Cleveland signed Watson arguably the worst deal in NFL history.
That the Browns gave up three first-round picks, a third-round selection and two fourth-rounders to the Houston Texans to trade for Watson before inking him to that contract renders the agreement exponentially worse.
Now that Mayfield is tracking toward a potential MVP award, the player that Cleveland gave up on so that it could make a catastrophic trade for Watson before signing him to a catastrophic contract is the cherry on the sundae of misery that is the Browns’ most recent attempt to secure a true franchise quarterback.
The team — which is owned by the same couple (Dee and Jimmy Haslam), run by the same general manager (Andrew Berry) and led by the same head coach (Kevin Stefanski) as it was when it made those horrible decisions — is now two games in to the Dillon Gabriel era, but is 0-2 to start.
Fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders is the backup, while Cleveland has two first-round picks in the 2026 draft and may look to add another young signal-caller to the roster as the search for its defining QB of this century continues.
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