Baker Mayfield is no fan of new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski and said Tuesday he can’t wait to play the former Browns boss who the Bucs quarterback said ghosted him after he was traded to the Panthers in 2022. Mayfield was responding to a post from Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter D.
Baker Mayfield is no fan of new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski and said Tuesday he can’t wait to play the former Browns boss who the Bucs quarterback said ghosted him after he was traded to the Panthers in 2022.
Mayfield was responding to a post from Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter on the social media platform X that accompanied a story headlined “Falcons’ Kevin Stafanski had a dumpster fire at quarterback in Cleveland.”
Wrote Ledbetter, “Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson failed, which started a chain reaction to 11 other starters. QB Sheduer Sanders closed out the season with seven starts.”
Mayfield took offense to the post while revealing he has had no contact with Stefanski since learning he was traded to Carolina for a conditional draft pick in July 2022.
“Failed is quite a reach pal,” Mayfield wrote. ”Still waiting on a text/call from him (Stefanski) after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach."
Stefanski, who was hired by the Falcons on Saturday after being fired by the Browns on Jan. 5 following six seasons in Cleveland, is not quoted in the story.
Mayfield is 2-4 against the Falcons since joining the Bucs in 2023, including splitting the series last season.
He had success under Stefanski and finished with a 29-30 overall record with the Browns. The No. 1 overall pick in 2018 went 11-5 in his third season with the Browns, leading them to a wild-card win over the Steelers, their first playoff victory since the 1994 season.
But Mayfield suffered a torn labrum trying to make a tackle after throwing an interception in 2021. He continued playing, fractured his humerus bone four weeks later, and the Browns finished the season 8-9.
Cleveland chose not to pick up Mayfield’s fifth-year option and traded him to Carolina in July 2022.
Mayfield went 1-5 as a starter with the Panthers before he was claimed off waivers by the Rams in December 2022. That led to his remarkable Thursday night win against the Raiders after spending only two days learning the offense.
Most of the Browns problems at quarterback came after Mayfield left Cleveland, as they went a combined 26-42 from 2022-25.
Stefanski has a similar situation in Atlanta, inheriting third-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
One thing is certain. The Bucs-Falcons series just got more interesting.
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Category: General Sports
