With the Cleveland Browns trying and failing to find success with a seemingly endless list of quarterbacks over the years, Baker Mayfield appears to be the one who got away. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers star is now considered one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, having bounced around different teams early in his career.
The Browns drafted Mayfield first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, but things didn’t work out, despite Mayfield leading the team to its first winning season in 13 years in 2020. According to one Browns insider, though, Mayfield was a big part of the problem during his time in Cleveland, and fans should stop blaming the team for his troubles there.
How Did Browns Insider Assess Baker Mayfield’s Time in Cleveland?
In Week 3, the Browns host the Green Bay Packers, a franchise that Cleveland could learn a thing or two from regarding finding and nurturing quarterback talent. Since trading for Brett Favre in 1992, the Packers have had three back-to-back franchise quarterbacks.
Since then, 40 different quarterbacks have led the Browns in passing over a season, with many more starting games in between. The team’s long history of failure at the position is well known and makes Mayfield’s success in Tampa Bay all the more bitter for Browns fans.
Radio hosts Ken Carmen and Anthony Lima discussed the situation, particularly Mayfield’s, on “92.3 The Fan” in Cleveland. During the show, they spoke to Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot about how the team could avoid a repeat failure with another talented quarterback in the future.
🚨 “Baker landed in Cleveland in the most dysfunctional period in Cleveland Browns history. So many things went downhill… Baker was a bit of a train wreck when he got here. “@MaryKayCabot on why Baker Mayfield and the #Browns didn’t work out.
🔊: https://t.co/8IYRkGbYkL pic.twitter.com/QYvWuD5okr
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) September 18, 2025
While critical of the team’s setup during Mayfield’s time in Cleveland, Cabot was quick to point the finger at Mayfield himself, who the insider described as “a trainwreck.”
“The point that I think is important here is Baker, himself, he was a little bit of a trainwreck when he was here, and he now admits that. I think he needed to be humbled, he needed to change, he wasn’t living his life the way that he is now.”
Cabot listed some of Mayfield’s personal, off-field issues as reasons for his struggles on the team, including problems with his marriage and family. The insider claimed that the Browns could not have gotten the best out of their quarterback at that point in time.
Cabot also suggested that the team is taking a different approach with 2025 rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and has learned from past mistakes. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to move Cleveland fans who have seen and heard it all before.
