Baker Mayfield sure can hold a grudge.
The Buccaneers quarterback got social media all stirred up Tuesday when he went after Kevin Stefanski, saying his former coach with the Browns never reached out in 2022 after the organization replaced Mayfield with Deshaun Watson and traded him.
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Mayfield replied to a post by a Falcons beat writer that said Mayfield “failed” with the Browns. The writer was explaining Stefanski’s difficult quarterback circumstances in Cleveland.
Stefanski was hired Saturday to coach the Falcons. He was fired by the Browns on Jan. 5 after six seasons.
“Failed is quite the reach pal,” Mayfield wrote on X. “Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach.”
The Falcons and Buccaneers are rivals in the NFC South.
Mayfield and Stefanski had a complicated relationship in Cleveland.
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Mayfield was the No. 1 pick in 2018. Stefanski arrived in 2020. They teamed to go 11-5 and end a 17-year playoff drought for the Browns that season as Mayfield passed for 3,563 yards and 26 touchdowns with a 95.9 passer rating. Cleveland won a playoff game for the first time in 26 years.
The good times didn’t last.
Mayfield sustained an injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder in 2021. He continued to play but was affected, going 6-8 as the starter with a 60.5 completion percentage, 17 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and an 83.1 rating.
Mayfield didn’t like what Stefanski was doing on offense and their relationship became strained. Mayfield criticized Stefanski’s game plan following a loss to the Steelers in Week 17 of 2021. He sat out the finale the next week.
The Browns decided Mayfield wasn’t the quarterback to lead them to a Super Bowl and traded for Watson in March 2022. Mayfield ripped the team when its pursuit of Watson became public and was traded months later to the Panthers.
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The Watson trade and the fully guaranteed $230 million contract the Browns gave him proved to be a disaster, and the Browns are still searching for a franchise quarterback.
Meanwhile, Mayfield found a home in Tampa Bay after stops in Carolina and with the Rams. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and ’24, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2024 as the Buccaneers made the playoffs for the second straight season.
Stefanski will surely be asked about Mayfield’s post next week at his introductory news conference. Almost as certainly he’ll sidestep the question and decline to engage.
