Baker Mayfield has handled his extension talks with the Cleveland Browns like a professional, but the outspoken former No. 1 overall pick is still hearing the criticism and is taking notes of those who say it.
Mayfield is notorious for keeping a comprehensive list of those who doubt him, dating back to his college days. His latest move on social media indicates he’s added another analyst to the top of that list in Mike Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum has been an outspoken critic of Mayfield over the last month or so with extension talks heating up in Cleveland and the former New York Jets GM tore into the Browns quarterback again on Thursday.
“I would not sign him to an extension. I would wait several years. Here’s why — you are binding yourself to mediocrity,” Tannenbaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “There’s a lot of ways to evaluate the AFC quarterbacks, but at best, he’s the sixth, maybe seventh-best quarterback in the AFC. In my evaluation, he’s the third-best quarterback in his own division and I like Baker Mayfield.
.@RealTannenbaum thinks that if the Browns signed Baker Mayfield to an extension right now they would be “binding [themselves] to mediocrity.” 😳
“At best he is the sixth, maybe seventh, best QB in the AFC!”
“If you are the Cleveland Browns, because of Baker Mayfield’s physical limitations of being short and slow, you can’t win a championship, especially if you have the seventh-best quarterback in the AFC.”
Mayfield heard the message from Tannenbaum and liked a tweet from the show with the clip, filing it away for motivation.
Mayfield also responded to a message from PGA golfer Hunter Mahan in the comments section. Mahan — an Oklahoma State alum — wrote: “Can Baker overcome the players their going to lose if you pay him 40 mil?”
Mayfield clapped back with a solid comeback.
“They didn’t teach grammar in Stillwater?” Mayfield wrote.
@HunterMahan They didn’t teach grammar in Stillwater?
Dan Orlovsky Defends Baker Mayfield
While Tannenbaum has been a critic of Mayfield, his fellow Get Up analyst Dan Orlovsky has been a consistent defender of the former Heisman winner. He went to bat once again for Mayfield after Tannenbaum’s latest rant.
“He has elite ball-placement. He’s got an absolute nuclear arm. Before Justin Herbert, he broke the rookie touchdown passing record from Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning. That is not mediocrity,” Orlovsky said. “I’m not sitting here saying we’re paying him Dak Prescott money or Patrick Mahomes money. But we can’t put his name attached to mediocrity.”
Mayfield took a big leap in Year 3 with Kevin Stefanski running the show in Cleveland. He surged down the stretch, helping lead Cleveland to a playoff berth and first-round win against the Steelers, passing for 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns, and — more importantly — a career-low eight interceptions.
“Baker, over the past year, has shown an enormous amount of growth, and I think that’s both on the field and then, quite honestly, off the field as well. So, we are excited,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said of Mayfield in March, per Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk. “He’s going into his first offseason where the coaching staff, offensive system is exactly the same not to mention that there’s been very little turnover on the offensive side of the ball, and we’re excited about him continuing to make strides under Kevin [Stefansk]’s tutelage in this offense because we think he’s a very talented player. We think he’s very skilled, and he really embodies the characteristics that we want in our program. So, we’re excited about his potential this upcoming year and he’s been hard at work this entire offseason.”
Baker Mayfield Not Sweating Extension
Getty ImagesBrowns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
With Cleveland picking up Mayfield’s fifth-year option, he’s linked to the team until after the 2022 season. That gives both sides some time to reach an agreement that can benefit both sides and allow the team to continue building, with other key pieces — like Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb — in need of deals.
Mayfield has said that he’s not stressing the extension and knows winning games will be the biggest factor in his future.
“I am in no rush because I am just trying to win games, and like I said, it will handle itself. I am sure Tom and Jack Mills are handling that,” Mayfield told reporters at minicamp.
“I’ve bet on myself my whole life and I’ve always taken it one day at a time, one play at a time,’’ he said. “I’m not going to handle it any differently now.”
Mayfield and the Browns open the season on September 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Browns QB Baker Mayfield Calls Out Critics on Twitter