DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Off-season Baker Mayfield

This should be fun.

These are the QBs that I would take over Baker for the 2022 season as of 1/9/22 (in no particular order):

Patrick Mahomes
Justin Herbert
Derek Carr
Mac Jones
Tua Tagovailoa
Josh Allen
Lamar Jackson
Joe Burrow
Ryan Tannehill
Matthew Stafford
Kyler Murray
Russell Wilson
Aaron Rodgers
Kirk Cousins
Jalen Hurts
Dak Prescott
Tom Brady
Matt Ryan

There are several others I can be talked into.

Cool story.

it's not fun because most of them are already on their team for a few years !!! lol JK !! I like Carr the most because he has had 3 consecutive years of over 4000 yards with no run game, receivers and a lousy line..



I liked Huntley until I watched the overtime .



Rodgers...that's a dream !..... somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dream that you dare to
Why, oh why can't I? I




Could you be talked into Baker if he was the Baker who won on that Thursday night to break a very long losing streak ?

But what does a list prove, all that matters is one thing.

Do the Haslems have the guts to keep the team together?

Rest assured there is not a single QB on your list that would trade their current situation to come to the Browns, so I guess you are stuck with Baker.

What about the other 14 guys on offense?
What about that Jarvis Landry was a Non Factoer for an entire season
What about that in spite of great play the team never properly used, (seldom properly used) David Njoku.

What about that Austin Hooper was only used 3rdly to Harrison Bryant, when Hooper is supposedly the better more experienced veteran player.

What about the fact they scarcely/sparesly played Demetric Felton on any offenseive snaps
What about the fact they tried to rely too much on DPJ, but only every now and then, when most times they'd totally avoid going to him for large stretches of multiple games.

What about the over a ton, dozen? times the Browns got into the red zone and couldn't get points because the coach was too eager to go for it on 4th downs.
What about the Quarterback, who is responsible to fix the freaking Quarterback, when he doesn't know how to make thoughtful decisions in the pocket, when he gets too scared or gun shy in the pocket, when he abandons the pocket too soon, and does it from Game 1 on, and nobody steps in for the entire 17 games of the season, to coach him to make better decisions.

What about, teams that make the playoffs, have offenses, that score Points!!

That would cause a concern and penalties.. since only 11 are suppose to be on the field

Could you be talked into signing Baker if he were coming from another team,
If The Browns, Had ANY KIND OF A COACH that could fix what is wrong with Baker, his mechanics, his posture at the point of release,

Baker would be the best guy to bring in from outside,
IF the Browns had any kind of a coach that wasn't hindering everybody.

(analytics fails on gamedays)

I believe the best option at QB next year is to get a reliable back up. Baker got hurt week 2 and if the team had a more reliable back up they should have shut him down. Off season priority should be to get Baker fixed and healthy and get a reliable back up.

I think Mullins will get every chance to be the back up because he would be less expensive…

was hoping to see him play the second half today

if we end up rolling with mayfield, then i hope this board can at least start being honest.

he will be completely healthy to start the season. he will once again have a top O line, top rushing attack, and decent weapons to throw to.

in his 5th year, we should not be having arguments about his crap footwork.

in his 5th year, we should not be having arguments about his inability to read a defense.

in his 5th year, we should not be having arguments as to wide he wont throw to open guys and instead throw into tight/double coverage.

yall made enough excuses for him this season to roll over to the NEXT qb who comes here. i dont wanna hear none of that next season.

because right now, he's not better than allen, lamar, herbert, carr, watson, burrow, mahomes, or an old ass big ben. i bet people can make a decent argument he isn't better than Tannehill or Bridgewater.

and thats just the AFC QB's.

this will be his 5th year, guys. 2-14 with the game on the line. at what point is baker gonna rise and shine?

Yep. It's do or die time.

After last season I can’t believe that we’re in this spot. I was pretty confident that Baker was our guy a year ago. I realized he wasn’t Uber talented and had flaws, but it seemed like he was ascending and growing with the offense enough to make us good.

Now, I feel the opposite. I think he holds the roster back to the point where we have to make tough decisions.

Did his injury affect things? Sure. But, to what point? That’s the question our FO must answer.

His passcatchers are a bit of a ? right now, but overall I agree with you.

But I think we're kinda beyond the 'why' at this point, right? The time to haggle over footwork and reading the D and diagnosing that is kinda past (unfortunately). It's his 5th year, and there are no conversations going (as far as we know) about the paper that's going to keep him here long term. As you guys said, it's put up or shut up time.

If his footwork still sucks and if he still can't read a D, he's probably not going to have a very good 5th season... and we know what that means for him being the Browns QB1. The decision isn't just a thumbs up/thumbs down on next season... it'll be more nuanced than that... but more to your point, Baker has sorta run out of time to address the nagging issues that have popped up during his career.

I want to see a healthy Baker Mayfield with NFL caliber WRs. Berry has his work cut out for him. And get a play caller who understands the value of Chubb and Hunt on the field at the same time. And how to help backup OL guys when they are asked to help out. Stefanski is infuriating. Geezus.

Does anyone have any knowledge as to Baker's ability to start throwing, given that it's his left shoulder that's being cut on? I hear 4-6 months recovery time, but that's for the affected shoulder.

All I read is that he’ll be fully recovered for OTAs

When you throw, your opposite arm also comes up, it's a counter-balance. When you torque your body, that shoulder is part of that, even if it isn't doing the work directly. Just try throwing a ball while keeping your opposite arm at your side. You can't do it.

So, I can imagine him being able to do light work - things that won't pose a risk to tearing anything that is healing - but REALLY throwing and taking on a heavy workload is probably that full 3-4 month window.

[b][/b]
When our FO gave Baker his 5th year option they believed in him enough to let him continue another two seasons. Then after two games when he got injured they were still confident enough to let him play the rest of the season. So when week 3 started we had a injured QB leading our troups, later in the season we had covid and injuries on our Oline not to mention piss poor contributions from our WR and TE. All these factors all together should give anyone with common sense a good indication that it's almost impossible to properly evaluate any player on these circumstances, not to mention a injuried QB.


So with that in mind do we all without one second of hesitation discussing our failed season and trying to put the majority of blame only on one individual? If we're going to give Stefanski a free pass then it's only logical to do the same with a injured QB. If Andrew Berry is totally blameless then this logic should apply for the rest of the staff and players too.

Baker and his wife has used social media in a bad way. That's immature and totally unnecessary. His decision making has sometimes been poor but i can't find another QB being so heavily criticized both nationally and locally as Baker Mayfield. Nobody passes such a storm without implications. Hopefully Baker and his team is smart enough to work on his public communication skills, that's needed. Next thing he should do is working realy hard with his mechanics and foot work, that's also heavily needed if he in the future wants to become a franchaise QB.

Until a final decsion is taken regarding his future then the FO should publicly be 100% behind him. Not the lame backing we sees today. Andrew Berry's strategy to hang him out to dry is counter productive and makes the Browns organisation to look bad. Not only Baker makes mistakes...

To Trooper's point, that doesn't really do much for him as far as trying to fix the things he needs to fix heading into a VERY critical season.

Yeah, a good shoulder won’t fix his inability to read a defense and handle pressure like he has to. He’s regressed in those areas it seems

The Vikings fired their GM and coach. It looks like they might go full rebuild. Covid Kirk might be available. . .

j/c -

Assuming Baker is the QB next year - and I think and want him to be - then he has to play well. End of story. It actually won't matter what the coaching is like, or the team or if he's injured. He's reached the point (gone beyond it in the eyes of some) where he simply has to produce like he did at the end of last year - and keep producing that way. Period.

As for how good the team will be - I'd say it's way too early to say it's going to be great/good.

RB's are elite. Period. Even without one of Johnson/Hunt - we are 100% set.

TE's - there is a lot of difference of opinion here. I think they are Meh. Nothing more than average. I think the best thing you can say is that there isn't a lot of drop off from #1 to #3. Not bad - but no where near great.

WR - assuming Landry comes back, he is very good at what he does. The rest is a giant question mark. DPJ regressed. Higgins Regressed. Schwartz was flat out bad.

OL is in flux. Both OG's are studs. Tretter may not be back - I hope he is. Conklin's injury is tough to come back from and not long ago was a career ender. Will regressed this year and *hopefully* it was mostly injury related. But we don't know.

But as I said - I don't think it matters. Baker has to shine regardless of the parts around him. I think he will.

Since the thread title is "Off-Season Baker Mayfield" and not "Who would you replace Baker Mayfield with", I'll actually address the thread title.

We have seen both good Baker and bad Baker. There have been questions about his footwork and the inability to find open WR's. People are correct that we don't have a good WR core but when they are getting open and your QB can't find those open WR's it runs deeper than them not being premiere WR's. A WR's job is to get open and they are doing that job regardless of people trying to blame them. Much like everyone else however I would like to see an upgrade at the WR position.

The question in my mind is how much of this has to do with Baker's injury? How much does that injury impact his footwork and thought process? We all have our opinions about that but do any of us really know the actual answer? I'm certainly not going to claim that I do.

Other than MKC every reliable source says we're rolling with Baker again next year and if I had the power to make that decision, my decision would be to role with him too. I want to see what a healthy Baker can bring to the table in 2022. You see, the dots are connected and I don't see a lot of people wanting to do that. The fact that Baker couldn't do many of the things he normally can also limits the playbook and the game plan. You can't run your normal playbook and game plan with an injury riddled QB. As such it made both the QB and the HC look and perform well below what they both would under normal circumstances.

Yet the fan base in general wants to point the finger mainly at one or the other. That's not how any of this works. With a healthy Baker and the entire playbook and game plan available, this combination of HC and QB took us to an 11-5 season just last year. That was in the first year in this system.

What I want to see is a healthy Baker working with the same HC that took us to an 11 win season last year. I want to see what they both bring to the table with a healthy Baker and a full playbook. Trying to place all of the blame on any one thing is silly IMO. The WR's were open. Baker was injured in a way that impacted his passing and God knows how much more. The HC was working on the fly trying to game plan around Baker's injury which limited the plays he could call and how much of the playbook he could use. And our opponents knew it.

There's plenty of blame to go around if that's what one is trying to do. And I'm still not totally convinced that Baker's injury caused him not to be able to see open WR's. But still I have no way of knowing for sure.

I want off season Baker to get well and be totally healthy coming into training camp next year. I want to see what that same combination of QB and HC that led us to an 11 win season last year when Baker was healthy can do.

At this juncture I think playing the "insert QB's name here" game is fools gold.

He's been my dark horse to be the Browns starting QB next year for a few weeks now.

Vikings would save $35M in cap space by trading Cousins.

One more season to see what a healthy Baker can do.

The dark horse has become the favorite. With his connection to Stefanski I think if we replace Baker Cousins is the most likely target.

Let's all not forget please that from November 2014 through late October 2018 we literally went 6-55-1.

We were 2-20-1 against the division during that stretch.

Since Baker has come in we've had at least 6-wins each season.

We've made the playoffs and have a win.

And we haven't been a division doormat as we're 13-12 against them since he took over (including the playoff win).

16 of Baker's 30 losses have been by a touchdown or less, so the team has been competitive with him under center.

I know he hasn't always passed the eye test, and he's had some consistency issues, but I think he's earned one more season to try and make things right.

Let's not forget all the long, painful seasons we had to endure before he was drafted.

IMO we need to upgrade the WR room, and if possible add some speed at TE. (Evan Engram or OJ Howard would be great).

Most importantly we need Baker, Hunt and the entire OL to come back healthy next season.

(We also need to prioritize signing a good backup tackle in free agency).

Perhaps Baker hasn't lived up to #1 overall status, but he's done a heck of a lot for this team since being drafted.

Now that I've had some time to cool off from how the season ended, I think we need to bring him back and ride out 2022 with him and see how things go.

He's shown us flashes of being good, he just has to find the consistency, and I'd hate to give up on him too soon and have him go find it somewhere else.

Just because things used to be horrible doesn’t mean you have to settle for okay.

True, but what if the alternative is back to (or closer to) horrible? I think that is the part of the argument that doesn't get enough attention.

I don't think that really matters if this FO gets to the point they feel we're buried in mediocrity. At that point they would have to decide to settle for mediocrity or do everything in their power to strive for greatness. Playing .500 ball year in and year out will not keep them their jobs. I don't think we are there yet. At least I hope not.

I wouldn’t move off Baker unless there is a veteran QB that is a clear upgrade on the roster.

It's the mindset of an abusive relationship. "Well, at least my partner doesn't hit me anymore."

Also, a lot of people think "eh, just ride it with Baker for 2022 and see what happens. As though Berry and Stefanski have the luxury and leeway to make such a casual decision. If Berry and Stefanski decide to just roll with Baker and this thing blows up in their face, are the chances better that Haslam says, "eh, no big deal, it's just another wasted season when we're built to win now" or that he goes in with a baseball bat and cleans house? I think the latter.

Are Berry and Stefanski willing to take those chances with a QB that's still fighting with the media like a child? Was pouting and refused to meet with the media after a WIN? Has proven over 4 years to be anything but consistent? Calling out his HC's play calling? You have no idea what QB is going to show up on Sunday....good Baker or bad Baker. You don't pay QBs like that, you move on from them or waste time being indecisive.

This is all just my opinion, of course!

And the old saying “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” applies here to a point.

I’m certainly not saying BM is perfect, or even close to it. I do think he’s the best we’ve had, both in actual performance as well as potential.

The only sensible thing to do is have him get healthy, along with the rest of the team, and see how he does next year.

Edit: what I would like to see him work hard to do is become a better QB. Physically and mentally. I can ask no more from him.

Baker was one of the worst QBs in the league. There was nothing good about him.

He was also one of the most injured QBs in the league.

No one has been able to convince me that his injuries prevents him from seeing open receivers.

They might have prevented him from being able to throw in certain directions/body angles. Also, if his leg injuries impaired his footwork, as appears to be the case. (no "up on his toes", for example) it could also impair his ability to throw over the DL. (which we saw)

It does appear that he regressed, but what percentage was injuries is yet to be seen. However, to pretend that the injuries had no impact seems rather foolish to me.