Of course the quarterback move didn’t work out for the Cleveland Browns. That’s how it goes on the shores of Lake Erie.
This one is particularly painful, though. Because only a few years after the Browns let Baker Mayfield leave, he’s now a star for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There were a couple stops in between, but the end result is that the Browns never got to see the fruits of the development of their former No. 1 overall pick.
Instead, Tampa Bay watches Mayfield continue to cook in the same 2025 season in which the Browns’ three QB options are a 40-year old Joe Flacco or a pair of mid-round rookies, and while the failed follow-up to Mayfield is the expensive and injured Deshaun Watson.
It might sound simple to say now, but it all could’ve been so different for the Browns.
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Why did the Browns get rid of Baker Mayfield?
When the Browns chose Mayfield No. 1 overall out of Oklahoma in 2018, it was supposed to be the end of Cleveland’s decades-long QB woes.
His first start marked the 30th different starting quarterback for the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999.
Mayfield set a record for touchdown passes in a season by a rookie (27).
In his third season, the Browns went to the playoffs with an 11-5 regular season record, then they beat the Steelers in a wild 48-37 first round game, their first playoff victory since 1994.
But in 2021, Mayfield spent most of the season playing through injury, and he struggled.
The Browns reacted to those struggles, which were likely because he spent most of the season with a labrum issue and some of it with a knee problem, and went after a new QB in the 2022 offseason.
They traded for Deshaun Watson from the Texans, prompting Mayfield to request a trade of his own, and they shipped him to the Carolina Panthers.
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Baker Mayfield career timeline after Cleveland
The Browns traded Mayfield to the Panthers on July 6, 2022, for a fifth-round pick.
Mayfield earned the Week 1 starting job over Sam Darnold, but by December, he wasn’t QB1 anymore.
On Dec. 5, 2022, Mayfield was granted a release by the Panthers which he had requested.
On Dec. 6, the Rams claimed him off waivers, and two days later, he was inserted on their second offensive series against the Raiders. They struggled most of the game, trailing 16-3 midway through the fourth quarter, but Mayfield led the Rams all the way back and culminated it with a 98-yard TD drive.
Mayfield parlayed that into a prove-it contract to replace Tom Brady with the Buccaneers, and he’s been the starter there ever since.
The Bucs have made the playoffs in both of Mayfield’s season, and in 2024, he threw 41 touchdowns.
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Browns’ QBs since Mayfield
Just since Mayfield left Cleveland, the Browns have started eight different quarterbacks:
- Jacoby Brisett
- Deshaun Watson
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson
- P.J. Walker
- Jeff Driskel
- Jameis Winston
- Bailey Zappe
- Joe Flacco
The Browns appear no closer to finding a franchise QB, although they did take a chance on third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft.
They may be forced to go for a first-round quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft, which would be their first QB taken in the opening stanza of the draft since they chose Mayfield in 2018.
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