TAMPA, FL – June 02: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) goes through drills through the Tampa Bay Buccaneers OTA exercise on June 02, 2026 on the AdventHealth Coaching Heart in Tampa, Florida. (Photograph by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos) | Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos
The Cleveland Browns will observe a well-known, drained script in late July after they open coaching camp in Berea.
With out a true beginning quarterback on the roster, head coach Todd Monken has the unenviable job of selecting between:
Veteran Deshaun Watson, who has solely performed in 19 video games since becoming a member of the Browns in 2022, has twice suffered season-ending accidents in that point, and has not been persistently good since 2020.
Second-year participant Shedeur Sanders, who’s coming off a rookie season that was statistically one of many worst the NFL has seen from a first-year quarterback prior to now 25 years.
Fellow second-year participant Dillon Gabriel, who performed as poorly as Sanders final season, or rookie Taylen Inexperienced, who may be in line for a “package of plays” however is nowhere close to being able to see the sphere as a starter.
For individuals who have been followers of the Browns for extra than simply the ultimate seven video games of the 2025 season, they know the way this film ends.
Cleveland has not made it via a whole season with only one beginning quarterback since 2020, so whoever wins the starter’s job between Watson and Sanders won’t make it via your entire season both due to harm (most certainly Watson) or continued poor play (each match that class).
And prepared or not, Inexperienced is virtually a lock to begin at the very least one recreation on the finish of the season. As for Gabriel? He’ll most certainly spend the autumn in Atlanta, Miami, or some other place.
From there, the Browns can lastly transfer on from Watson, maintain Sanders because the most-popular backup quarterback the league has ever seen (or not), let Inexperienced proceed because the developmental quarterback, and hope to strike it wealthy on the place within the 2027 NFL Draft.
However what if an alternative choice presents itself to common supervisor Andrew Berry? An possibility that’s each acquainted and would characterize presumably the best comeback in franchise historical past?
We’re speaking, in fact, about Baker Mayfield.
The No. 1 general choice within the 2018 NFL Draft, Mayfield seemed like the reply after main the Browns to the playoffs in 2020 and getting off to a scorching begin in 2021 earlier than a shoulder harm derailed the season in Week 2. Issues spiraled from there because the Browns took the “big swing and a miss” on Watson in 2022 and subsequently traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers.
Baker Mayfield says he needs to remain in Tampa however they’re not shut on a brand new contract and he’s set a deadline of the beginning of coaching camp, not wanting to barter after that through the season. pic.twitter.com/RkVX9Nxg9s
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) June 5, 2026
It took him some time to refind his mojo, however as soon as Mayfield landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023, he led the Buccaneers to the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, and solely missed on making it three years in a row due to some late-game collapses by the protection down the stretch.
Mayfield is getting into the ultimate 12 months of his contract with Tampa Bay, and the 2 sides are “not close” to reaching a brand new deal, as Mayfield mentioned on Friday throughout an interview at his youth soccer camp:
“We love the neighborhood, we love being right here, they’ve embraced us, and we get pleasure from being right here and clearly gonna elevate children right here. However yeah, contract stuff, it’s occurring, it’s beginning, the talks and whatnot, however not anyplace near what we had been considering.
“So, we’d like to be right here long-term, and as of proper now, it’s not precisely the case. However as of now, I’m underneath contract for 2026, and the fellows in that locker room, the workers know that I’m nonetheless gonna be me. I’m nonetheless gonna do all the pieces that I can to assist this group win the Tremendous Bowl. To me, that’s the precedence. All the things else will maintain itself. Clearly, sure, I’d like to have a long-term deal, however they know my deadline is as quickly as coaching camp begins, we’re not doing any contract stuff, it’s all ball. So, it’s lower than me when that will get carried out. So, hopefully earlier than that. If not, we’re nonetheless gonna have an excellent 12 months.”
So might Mayfield and the Browns have a reunion in 2027?
On Mayfield’s facet, any beef he could have with head coach Kevin Stefanski resides in Atlanta now that Stefanski is head coach of the Falcons. And so long as Odell Beckham Jr. is nowhere to be seen in Cuyahoga County, all the pieces ought to go nicely with the huge receivers.
However groups are starved for good quarterback play, so if Mayfield continues to play the best way he has the previous three years (a mean of 4,079 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and a 66.3 completion share), the Buccaneers will discover a method to maintain Mayfield in Tampa.
As for the Browns, they don’t seem to be able to say “no” to any possibility in the case of the quarterback place. And people numbers that Mayfield has put up in Tampa? They might put him on the prime of Cleveland’s all-time single-season listing.
Would it not occur? In all probability not, as Mayfield is unlikely to hit the open market. Might it occur? Till he indicators a brand new contract and the Browns discover an precise quarterback, each chance is on the desk.
If it did occur, and Mayfield truly took the Browns to the place the place everybody believed they had been heading after the 2020 playoff season? They might not be capable of construct a statue quick sufficient or print sufficient Return of the King T-shirts to fulfill the demand from a ravenous fan base that loses a little bit extra persistence each season.
So what do you say, Browns followers? If Mayfield had been to be out there in free company subsequent 12 months, ought to the Browns welcome him again? Or has that ship actually sailed? Get the dialog going within the feedback!
