Baker Mayfield circling Week 1 game against Browns

It won’t be long before we see Baker Mayfield face off against the Cleveland Browns as the two parties will meet in Week 1 of the regular season.

Get your chip dip ready, Carolina Panthers fans. Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is already circling the Week 1 showdown with his former club.

"“I’m not going to sit here and be a robot and tell you that’s not one I’ve marked on the calendar already,” Mayfield said. “One, that’s not who I am. To me, it’s about winning games. Whoever we have marked on the schedule, I’m going to try to win. Obviously, this one has a little more history and personal meaning, but for me, it’s about winning and setting the tone for the rest of the year, and however I can help this team do that, I’m going to do.”"

Now, there is nothing wrong with what Mayfield said. In fact, it was to be expected being who he is. And for the record, most players in any sport will circle the game against their former team, especially if things did not end amicably, as some sort of motivational factor.

Mayfield spoke with the Carolina media on Tuesday afternoon and also said he’s ready for a “fresh start” with a coach and GM that “truly wanted” him.

Here’s the fact of the matter; Browns GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski never really wanted Mayfield to be their quarterback. They didn’t draft him, but instead, inherited him from the previous front-office regime.

The writing was on the wall during the 2021 season and then it was solidified when the Browns made the blockbuster move to acquire Deshaun Watson. Clearly, the team wanted to upgrade at the most important position in all of team sports and they did just that.

Many fans were highly agitated that the Browns would trade for Watson with all of his off-the-field issues clouding the transaction, while not yet getting rid of Mayfield. They will forever think of Mayfield as something he is not — a top-5-10 quarterback in the NFL — and will forever bring up the 2020 season which saw the Browns make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and win a playoff game (in Pittsburgh nonetheless) for the first time in 26 years.

Here’s another fact for you; if Mayfield was as good as some will preach he is, the Browns wouldn’t have pursued a trade for any quarterback, let alone one with a question mark on how many games he will play this upcoming season.

It was clearly in the best interest of both the Browns and Mayfield to move on and start over. Cleveland now has one of the elite quarterbacks in the game today, while Mayfield gets a chance to shine under a new regime.

The chip on Mayfield’s shoulder is already astronomical, but just imagine how big that will be leading up to Week 1 when the Browns come to his new home. That chip can be smashed by the likes of Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney, Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, and Greedy Williams. The former two will be after Mayfield, should he win the starting gig over fellow 2018 draftee, Sam Darnold, while the latter three will look to take advantage of any mistake Mayfield makes.

Instead of chips, get your popcorn ready, as Week 1 will be quite the treat for everyone. I, for one, am so excited to see the continued back and forth between Browns fans, who have been desperate to move on from Mayfield and the Baker Bros, some of which are Browns fans rooting against the team to continue to ride with 6.

Baker Mayfield can circle all the games he wants, but at the end of the day, the defense will be circling in to try and disrupt his Carolina debut, again, should he be the starter for that game.