When Kevin Stefanski officially landed back on the NFL sidelines last week as the Atlanta Falcons’ new head coach, most of the attention centered on Atlanta’s reset and Stefanski’s turbulent final years in Cleveland. But one of the loudest reactions came without a press conference, a quote request, or a microphone. It came from Mayfield’s phone.
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A post circulating on X described Stefanski’s tenure with the Browns as a “dumpster fire at quarterback,” lumping Mayfield into a list of failed solutions that eventually spiraled into Cleveland’s now-infamous Deshaun Watson era. Mayfield, now the face of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, didn’t let it slide.
“Failed is quite the reach pal,” Mayfield wrote. “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.”
Failed is quite the reach pal. 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. https://t.co/jUUsYkvlOC
— Baker Mayfield (@bakermayfield) January 20, 2026
The friction is rooted in history. In 2020, Mayfield and Stefanski helped resurrect a dormant Browns franchise, going 11–5 and delivering Cleveland its first playoff appearance since 2002 — and its first playoff win since 1994 with a stunning road victory over the Steelers.
That season remains one of the high points of Stefanski’s coaching career and one of the strongest arguments that Mayfield was far from a failure in Cleveland.
The relationship unraveled a year later. Playing through a partially torn labrum in 2021, Mayfield went 6–8 as a starter as the Browns slipped out of the playoff picture. Rather than recommit, Cleveland pivoted aggressively, trading three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson and handing him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, a move now widely viewed as one of the worst trades in league history.
Watson has gone 9–10 as a Browns starter and has yet to play more than seven games in a season with the team.
Mayfield, meanwhile, was sent packing, first to Carolina, then briefly to Los Angeles, without so much as a goodbye, according to the quarterback himself.
The breakup nearly derailed Mayfield’s career. After being released by the Panthers midseason in 2022, he finished the year with the Rams before signing a one-year “prove-it” deal with the Buccaneers. He proved everything.
Since arriving in Tampa Bay, Mayfield has quietly become one of the NFL’s most productive quarterbacks. In 2023, he threw for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. He followed that with a career-best 2024 season, eclipsing 4,500 yards and tossing 41 touchdowns while leading the Bucs to their second straight NFC South title.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Mayfield ranks second in the NFL, behind only Jared Goff, in both passing yards and touchdown passes. And now, with Stefanski coaching in Atlanta, a reunion is unavoidable.
