Nothing personal, but all this talk about dumping Baker after a poor showing while injured to go after guys that are 1) questionable whether they are an upgrade, 2) almost double in cost from the current situation and would require a contract even bigger than anything the Browns would have to pay Baker and 3) a team with no pass receiving weapons in place with a coach that has a documented history of suppressing the passing game.
The point is all this talk about getting a Wilson, Rodgers, Carr, Watson or a Cousins is not a fix for the Browns passing game. Stefanski is a run first coach and he's going to run that scheme no matter what talent he has at any position. Look, it's documented that in 2019 when he took over as OC for the Vikings he cut back Cousins attempts from the previous year by 27.8%, completions by 26.7% and passing yards by 16.17%. Keep in mind that was with Diggs (55 target reduction), Thielen (105 target reduction), Rudolph (34 target reduction), Bisi Johnson.(rookie), and Cook (increase of 14 targets) from 2018 to 2019. In fact, since Cousins became a F/T starter in 2015, his 5-year average excluding 2019 is 380 pass attempts per year - in 2019 it was 307 (a 19.2% reduction). The Browns don't currently have anywhere near the skill set that the Vikings had at WR and TE so that would have to be addressed too (though highly unlikely considering Stefanski's scheme).
The thought process that Stefanski would change his scheme for a Cousins is just hogwash. If that was the case he'd change for Baker. Not only that, Cousins has already lived through a Stefanski in charge offense and felt the reduction even after he had a year (2018) where he completed 70.1% of his passes with 30 TD throws. Diggs saw the writing on the wall and demanded a trade. OBJ seen the writing on the wall and demanded a trade. The Browns have (at the time of signing) the highest paid TE in football and reduced his targets by an average of 29.2% the last 2-years and posters here think it's a QB problem and getting a guy used to throwing 250 plus more times a year currently is going to save the Browns by having his attempts drastically reduced?
I think Mayfield has things to work on but this goes way beyond Baker Mayfield's performance. This goes to building your offense to the skill set of your players and be equally threatening as much in the passing game as you are in the run game. Teams have figured out Stefanski's run scheme and are defending the Browns as such. As much as Baker has items to work on, Stefanski has a much bigger challenge of adjusting his offensive scheme which to date he has been unwilling to do. The Browns can spend every dime they have on talent but if the coach won't build to that - WHAT's THE POINT?
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