Mayfield claps back at former coach Stefanski and says Browns treated him like ‘garbage’ | Cleveland Browns

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield has expressed his frustrations with the treatment he received from his former head coach Kevin Stefanski, who he will now face twice a year as an opponent.

Stefanski was Mayfield’s head coach with the Browns before Cleveland traded the quarterback to the Carolina Panthers in 2022. Both are now in the NFC South after Atlanta hired Stefanski on Saturday.

Mayfield appeared angry after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter published that Stefanski said Mayfield and another Browns quarterback, Deshaun Watson, had “failed” in Cleveland.

“Failure is quite the buddy. Still waiting for a text/call from him after being shipped out like trash,” Mayfield posted on social media Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing you twice a year, Coach.”

The Browns drafted Mayfield, a Heisman Trophy winner out of Oklahoma, first overall in 2018. He played four seasons in Cleveland, passing for 3,725 yards in his first season and throwing and a then-NFL rookie recorded 27 touchdown passes. In Stefanski’s first season in 2020, Mayfield led the Browns to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and their first playoff victory in 26 seasons.

But Mayfield also struggled with consistency — throwing 22 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions in 2019 — and wasn’t afraid to confront criticism of his play.

After being traded to the Panthers and then spending time with the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield found himself at a crossroads. But he turned his career around with Tampa Bay, being named to the Pro Bowl twice and leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs in 2023 and 2024 before a late-season collapse that kept the Bucs out of this year’s playoffs.

Stefanski, a two-time AP Coach of the Year, coached the Browns for six years before being fired after this season. The Falcons hired him less than two weeks later.