National Football League

Should Baker Mayfield feel 'disrespected' by Browns?

Updated Apr. 14, 2022 12:35 p.m. ET

The Cleveland Browns told Baker Mayfield he would be their starting quarterback for 2022. They told everyone. They said it immediately after the season, in January. And they said it again during the NFL Scouting Combine, in March.

In mid-March, they tried to tell Mayfield again, after initially being informed they were out of the running for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield, however, requested a trade, and the Browns managed to strike a deal with the Houston Texans for Watson a few days later.

A few weeks later, Mayfield is still on the Browns, and he’s still upset.

"The respect thing is all going to be a personal opinion," Mayfield, in his first public comments since the Browns acquired Watson, said on the "Ya Neva Know" podcast. "I feel disrespected, 100 percent, 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’ve had four different head coaches in four years, a bunch of different coordinators."

And a bunch of different results.

After a 2021 campaign riddled with injuries and poor performance, Mayfield will be playing for a new head coach and coordinator in 2022. He just doesn’t know who. Few teams are still in the market for a new starter after several quarterbacks relocated during free agency. The former No. 1 overall pick will likely have to wait until the 2022 NFL Draft, which features a handful of potential first-round QB selections, for a trade suitor to surface.

"If this would have been about a week and a half ago, I would have said Indianapolis," Mayfield said. "Seattle? I mean, it'd probably be the most likely option. But even then, I've got no idea.

"I’m not nervous. I have no idea where I’m going, but I’m not nervous. I’ve gone through a lot of s--- the past few years, but now I’m going to control what I can control."

He doesn’t have any say on where his next NFL home will be unless the Browns cut him. It’s an unlikely scenario given that he’s guaranteed almost $19 million for the upcoming season. Mayfield, though, is simply looking for a fresh start.

"I’ve had, you talk about the highs, they always come back," he said. "I had great times my rookie year. I didn’t start in the beginning. I came in and had fun in the back half of the year. 2019 sucked. 2020 was great — made the playoffs. 2021 was miserable. It’s like (a roller coaster). 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 be able to lead an organization. I’m in a good place right now."

On "First Things First," Chris Broussard explained why what Mayfield called ‘disrespect’ is really just the business of football and that he could help his cause by showing more self-awareness while seeking new employment.

"It was unfortunate that it leaked that [the Browns] were meeting with Deshaun Watston and Baker found out about it through the media. … however, Baker needs to recognize that this is the business," Broussard said. "The bottom line is that the business of the NFL — and really every business for the most part — is about production. And if you are not an elite-level producer in your craft, then they're always gonna be looking elsewhere.

"And it's gonna come off as two-faced or disrespectful because while you're in the building and while you're their quarterback … they're going to be saying all the right things to you, they're gonna be working with you on making the team better because they might have to go with you. But while they're doing that, they're also going to be seeing if they can get somebody better."

According to Nick Wright, Mayfield isn't right about everything, but he's right about this situation.

"This entire process has been handled amateurishly, and of course Baker has a right to feel like he had earned more respect, more dignity and more professionalism from a franchise that, before he became the starting quarterback, was the worst franchise in all of professional sports in this country for … 30 years," he said.

"[The Browns] had quality players before Baker, and they were miserable, awful every year because they couldn't get the quarterback right. They got the quarterback right-ish, and the moment they thought, ‘Eh, we can get it right-er,’ they not only throw Baker to the wolves, but they do it in a haphazard, awkward manner. So of course he was disrespected."

Baker on the Browns: "I feel disrespected."

Watch Nick Wright explain why he agrees that Mayfield has been disrespected by Cleveland.

On the other side, on "Speak For Yourself," Emmanuel Acho defended the Browns trading for Watson but not their handling of Mayfield through the process.

"The Cleveland Browns did not honor what Baker Mayfield had done for them Think about the toxicity the Cleveland Browns were in before Baker Mayfield," Acho explained, rattling off their many previous first-round QB picks amid what was the NFL's longest playoff drought.

"Baker Mayfield stabilized one of the most unstable organizations in football."