Baker Mayfield wearing a Baltimore Ravens uniform. That image is difficult for most Cleveland Browns fans to swallow, but it was actually a real possibility when he was looking for a new team in 2023.
Browns head coach Todd Monken recently made it sound like the former Cleveland quarterback was set to land with the Ravens before he signed a one-year prove-it contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Monken was the offensive coordinator in Baltimore back in 2023, and the new inside information has put yet another spin on the Mayfield saga following his departure from Cleveland.
Monken suggested during his weekly press conference that Mayfield was set to sign a deal with the Ravens and serve as the backup quarterback to starter Lamar Jackson:
"It was only four years ago when I was in Baltimore, we thought he was coming there to be our backup," Monken said. "And the Bucs signed him, and the good Lord put that in place for him, and he has taken advantage of that. We thought after Carolina and the Rams, he was going to come to Baltimore, and I was fired up about it."
Imagining Mayfield in a Ravens uniform is pretty hard to take. As much as the Cleveland fanbase fell in love with their previous quarterback, seeing him in those rival jerseys would have set them off.
Baker Mayfield nearly went from Browns franchise quarterback to AFC North rival
Why would that move set the Cleveland fan base into a tizzy? Let's take a stroll down the Browns and Mayfield Memory Lane.
Mayfield was drafted by Cleveland with the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, and thoughts of him finally becoming the team's long-sought-after franchise quarterback were resonating throughout Browns Nation.
A reason for that excitement was tied to what the fans had been through over the previous 25 years. Their Browns were taken from them in 1996 by then-owner Art Modell as he relocated them to Baltimore to become the Ravens. There has obviously been no love lost between the two franchises and towns since then.
So having Mayfield help make Cleveland relevant again and a championship contender was very exciting to the fan base. However, that all changed abruptly during the 2021 season, when Mayfield was injured early and tried to play through the pain. Many fans wanted Mayfield to take a break and recover. The Browns' coaches wouldn't force Mayfield to sit, and the back-and-forth drama at the time created many problems both on and off the field.
After the season was over, Mayfield started publicly calling to be traded, and he got his wish as he was shipped to the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 offseason. The Panthers released him in December of that year, and he was picked up by the Los Angeles Rams toward the end of that season.
The Rams needed an emergency quarterback to fill in for their injured starter, Matthew Stafford. After that season, Mayfield signed a free-agent deal to become the Buccaneers' new starting quarterback. He's now going into his fourth season with Tampa Bay after recently signing a three-year, $165 million extension.
Browns fans should be thankful Baker Mayfield's revenge tour didn't land in Baltimore
Ever since departing Cleveland, Mayfield has continued to voice his opinion on many football topics, including his time in Cleveland, and not all of it has been positive. If he'd landed in Baltimore, I think many fans would have become even angrier toward the former Cleveland superstar.
The fact that Mayfield has played in Tampa Bay these last four seasons has lessened the blow to the Browns fanbase's psyche. The Browns and the Buccaneers haven't played each other since Mayfield left Cleveland.
Having Mayfield on the Ravens would have been more of an insult to the loyal Browns fan base. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
On Sunday, Mayfield will play with that chip on his shoulder and try to embarrass his former team. But at least we aren't having to watch him twice a season with the AFC North divisional schedule.
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