A four-year-old grudge has resurfaced with Baker Mayfield taking a shot at his former Coach, Kevin Stefanski.

Mayfield posted that Stefanski never contacted him after the QB was “shipped off like a piece of garbage." Experts are now taking their sides.

Jason Lloyd, a columnist for The Athletic, called out the former Browns quarterback for this recent outburst. "The Browns’ assessment of Baker was spot on. Their solution was catastrophic. But the original assessment (wildly immature, good but not great) was exactly right."

Mayfield and Stefanski found success early as the Browns went 11-5 in 2020 and won a playoff game, their first in decades. The QB had a passer rating of 95.9 with 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions in 16 games.

But then, in 2021, Mayfield struggled with injuries (including a shoulder issue) and inconsistent play. The Browns finished 6-8. His passer rating fell to 83.1 with 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in 14 games. Tensions started to grow between him and Kevin Stefanski.

Reports indicate that he became increasingly frustrated with the offense and his role under Stefanski’s scheme.

According to Browns Insider Mary Kay Cabot, the QB felt "the run-heavy, three-tight end scheme didn’t play to his strengths, and Stefanski wasn’t calling enough of the play-action bootlegs that Mayfield excelled at last season."

Things kept getting worse as Baker Mayfield said the calls “got too conservative” after the 24-22 victory over the Ravens. By early 2022, Mayfield publicly stated he wanted a trade, calling his relationship with the team “too far gone to mend.”

Ultimately, the Browns traded him to the Panthers. Taking all this into consideration, Lloyd felt that Browns were right to find Mayfield as talented but immature. Though he also felt that they should not have traded him. Browns legend Joe Thomas also spoke on Mayfield's outburst.

"I could be wrong…but I've heard that communication is a 2-way street and there were no laws against you (Baker) sending Stefanski a text or calling him after you got traded🧐," he said. But not everybody is against the former Browns' QB.

J.J. Watt “Absolutely Love” What Baker Mayfield Did

Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and NFL legend J.J. Watt said he is impressed by the consequences Mayfield’s tweet will bring. He said on the Pat McAfee show that he likes it because it will bring competition.

"I absolutely love this...Like, this is the National Football League. This is sports. It's supposed to be competitive. You're not supposed to like each other. We're not all supposed to be friends at the end of the day. This is awesome. And this is going to create some great television this fall when they play each other twice this year. This is what it should all be."

With Kevin Stefanski taking the Falcons' head coach job, he is now in the same division as Baker Mayfield.

If the two go up against each other, wouldn't that be interesting? Tell us in the comments

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu