The Land on Demand

Baker Mayfield Feeling ‘100 Percent’ Disrespected By Browns, But Looks Forward To Earning A Second Contract With A New Team

Baker Mayfield, a quarterback without a team, is looking forward to the next chapter of his career.

Baker Mayfield, a quarterback without a team, is looking forward to the next chapter of his career.

Baker Mayfield feeling ‘100 percent’ disrespected by Browns, but looks forward to earning a second contract with a new team

As of Wednesday, April 13, 2022

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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Takeaways from the YNK Podcast with Baker Mayfield …

Midway through his appearance on the YNK Podcast hosted by Mike, Baker Mayfield said, “Down the road, we’ll eventually write a book.”

There’s certainly a lot of ground for Mayfield to cover that he didn’t cover on the 90-minute podcast. Particularly, where did it go wrong between he and Odell Beckham Jr. and also he and coach Kevin Stefanski.

These two eroding relationships probably had as much to do with Mayfield’s demise in Cleveland as the infamous left shoulder injury.

Mayfield made no mention of Beckham or Stefanski. But Mayfield said some interesting things when the host brought up the role of a quarterback in galvanizing his locker room.

Mayfield termed the process of not getting complacent “a huge battle in the locker room.”

“Some of these guys don’t play the game because they love it,” Mayfield said. “They’re playing it for a retirement fund. … And they’re making tons of millions of dollars and they don’t really care about winning. How do you motivate people like that to win is where I’m at right now. How do I get the best out of people that are making a s*** ton of money?

“How do you motivate people that have reached that point? That’s the biggest battle for me. How can I get it out of everybody else? That’s a leadership perspective of being a quarterback. I have to get everybody else around me to be better than they already are.”

Mayfield said a “huge issue” is making teammates realize he cares about them as human beings and not just about winning.

“Some locker rooms understand it, some don’t. I’m pretty excited to be moving on to the next chapter where hopefully it is understood,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield said he’s looking forward to proving himself to a new locker room, “but I’m not going to force it.”

“I’m going to be myself. I feel like I tried to force it when things on the field weren’t going well the past couple years. I’m going to be myself because that’s worked for me in the past. And if they don’t like me, that’s fine. But when I step on the field and I play as confident as I am and what I think I’m going to do the next time I get a chance to do it, I’ll earn the respect of the guys that didn’t appreciate it from the beginning.

“[Teammates] want their quarterback to win. The guys that don’t like me, that’s fine. But I have to have their respect and the way I do that is working my ass off and being myself. Because you can get sniffed out in a heartbeat if you’re fake.”

The injury

Mayfield detailed his left shoulder injury, saying he tore the labrum completely in Game 2 and then disclocated it again in Game 6. The second injury included a fracture of the humerous bone.

“So when I had the labrum done and that fracture and the inflammation, I had no function in my left shoulder,” he said. “We were going into a Thursday game. [On] Monday I couldn’t lift my arm. When I couldn’t raise my arm, I’m like, ‘I can’t do this.’”

The injury began a downhill spiral, Mayfield said.

“One thing after another. Mentally tough because I was trying to be tough and fight through it, but then basically I wasn’t as capable of doing what I normally was,” he said. “So when I wasn’t performing on the field, that’s when it really started going downhill. When it started hindering my play, and going downhill, that’s when I started losing my own self-confidence and just losing my self. This past year was rough. It was rough on me, my family. It sucked. Because I knew what I could be doing, but I physically wasn’t in a state to do it. And because physically, it was mental. The whole thing was one after another.

“Now, I don’t know where I’m going next.”

Mayfield didn’t say why he kept playing or why the coaches allowed him to keep playing while his performance regressed.

“I really, truly, honestly have no regrets of my time in Cleveland, of what I tried to give to that place,” he said. “And true Clevelanders, and true Browns fans know that, and that’s why I can walk away from the whole situation and feeling like I did it."

Disrespect

Mayfield’s only direct criticism was reserved for team management for pursuing Deshaun Watson after he was told he would return as the starting quarterback.

“I feel disrespected. One hundred percent,” he said. “Because I was told one thing and they completely did another. That’s what I’m in the middle of right now. And you know what? OK, I got my taste of it because I had four different head coaches in four years, a bunch of different coordinators.

“I had great times my rookie year. I came in and got to have fun. 2019 sucked. 2020 was great, made the playoffs. 2021 was miserable. I’m just looking for stabilization right now. I know what I need to do for me to be the best version of me and to be able to lead an organization. I’m in a good place right now. I have no clue where I’m going.”

The noise

Mayfield said, “I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I got caught up in all the negativity and stuff during the year last year.”

He said when he had his shoulder surgery in Los Angeles in January, he had his marketing agent change the passwords on all his social media accounts.

“I got out of that. It’s the best feeling in the world,” he said. “I don’t hear opinions that don’t matter to me. I realize that I paid so much attention to things that don’t matter. It’s gotten me closer to my faith and doing a bunch of stuff.

“As much as I say I don’t see it, I used to see everything. ‘Cuz I would feed into it then.”

The next chapter

Mayfield, who is guaranteed $18.85 million in the final year of his Browns contract – no matter where he plays – said he has enough money to retire. But he’s motivated to prove himself as a winning quarterback again.

“I’m having to prove myself again to earn that second contract,” he said.

He admitted he wanted to play for the Indianapolis Colts and opined that the Seattle Seahawks could be his next destination, though he has no knowledge of where he’ll end up.

“I’m ready for the next chapter, the next opportunity,” Mayfield said. “I’m only guaranteed one year. I have one year wherever I go. It’s my next interview. Whether I play that year and they extend me or I play somewhere else. It’s not extra pressure. I’ve been here before.

“I need a little reignite. Need a little slap in the face.”
 
  

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