Browns' Kevin Stefanski won't 'get into specifics' of Baker Mayfield feeling disrespected
BEREA, Ohio — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski wanted nothing to do with sharing his reaction to quarterback Baker Mayfield recently saying on a podcast he felt disrespected by the organization.
“I'm not going to get into the specifics of those type of things," Stefanski said Wednesday at team headquarters. "It really is a unique situation, and we'll just work through it.”
In an episode of the "Ya Neva Know: You Know What I Mean?" podcast that debuted April 13, Mayfield expressed frustration with the Browns trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson on March 18 after general manager Andrew Berry had told reporters Jan. 11 and March 1 he "fully" expected Mayfield to be the team's starting QB next season.
In a meeting with Mayfield's agent in early March at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, Berry echoed what he had said publicly about expecting Mayfield to start for the Browns in 2022, but Berry also explained he would conduct due diligence on other quarterbacks, a person familiar with the conversation told the Paste BN Network. The person spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
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Berry, though, did not tell Mayfield's camp the Browns would meet with Watson on March 15 in Houston. Mayfield learned the news through the media, something Berry admitted last month at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, he regrets.
"I feel disrespected 100% because I was told one thing and they completely did another," Mayfield said during an hour-and-a-half episode of the podcast. "That’s what I’m in the middle of right now. And you know what? OK. I got my taste of it because I’ve had four different head coaches in four years, a bunch of different coordinators. I’ve had the highs, and they always come back."
What Stefanski has left unsaid is whether he felt disrespected as a result of Mayfield publicly criticizing the head coach's play calling twice last season, when the Browns went 8-9 despite carrying Super Bowl expectations into the fall.
Asked about the criticism on Jan. 4, Stefanski said, "As a team, we have been very, very inconsistent this season — as an offense certainly. All things that we will look at long term here once the season is over and have a chance to look at all of it, but certainly, there are frustrations there.”
As Mayfield awaits a trade from Cleveland, he did not report to the Browns on Tuesday when they began their voluntary offseason workout program. Watson has been in attendance.
Does Stefanski expect Mayfield to show up?
"It’s a voluntary program," Stefanski said Wednesday. "What we won’t do is we won’t say who’s here, who’s not here. It’s voluntary. The guys that show up, we’re excited that they’re here. We’re excited to work with them."
Mayfield would not be contractually obligated to arrive at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea until mandatory minicamp June 14-16 and training camp in late July.
Obviously, Mayfield and the Browns hope to part before then, but in the event Mayfield remains on the roster this summer, he would attend mandatory minicamp and training camp to avoid fines and any potential contractual issues, a league source said.
At this point, logical landing spots for Mayfield include the Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions. The greatest obstacle to a deal is the $18.858 million guaranteed Mayfield is owed on his fifth-year option in 2022.
"It’s fluid," Stefanski said, "and we’ll just continue to work through it as we go each day."
Although the Mayfield era in Cleveland is expected to end soon, the quarterback has been in contact with at least one of his Browns teammates. He recently reached out to cornerback Denzel Ward, the No. 4 overall pick in 2018, the same draft in which former Browns GM John Dorsey drafted Mayfield first overall. Ward struck a deal on a five-year, $100.5 million contract extension Monday.