Browns got a fun win against the Steelers Thursday! Well done!

But the Browns are having an awful season, how did we got here?  I’ve been thinking, and no matter how I try to slice this pie differently, it all comes down to one decision.  This is not to try to change your mind, or convince you I’m right.  I ask you read patiently and go back in time.  The road that led us here was the banishing of Baker Mayfield.  It started a cascade of events that have us right here, right now. That’s just the hard cold reality of it.

I know, I know he wasn’t always great, he had issues, Watson’s “QBR” was the highest of all time, I get it.  I’m not saying the Browns would be Superbowl Champs by now with him.  But I’ve digested all of it, and the sad reality of Baker is this.  His own organization appeared to sabotage his career and didn’t pull him off the field in his last season as he was clearly hurt.  They seemingly had a personal grudge against him.  If the above  –  came from above shame on them.  And if the head coach didn’t protect him as a human, shame on him.  It was a horrible look.  Baker left, had some issues and has now found a home in Tampa, and when they’re healthy, they’re really good. 

Then the Watson trade with his horrible past that was simply brushed aside by the organization.  He is a .500 QB at the NFL level.  This is a disaster and the worst may be ahead.  The terrible play, the health, the money, and now the losing.  None of the losing of 3 huge #1 draft picks, and 6 picks overall would have happened.  Or the firing of many good coaches to suit the new QB.  The guaranteed money, and the insane salary cap hits the next two years with no way out – by simply keeping Mayfield.

Enter Joe Flacco and Jared Goff.  Jared Goff?  Yes, he was the #1 pick in the draft like Baker by the Rams. As they were getting better, the Rams decided that Goff was not the answer but Mathew Stafford was.  So they traded him to Detroit for Stafford. That trade has been incredible for both teams. The Rams won a Superbowl, and today Goff is elite in Detroit as he leads the best team in the NFL.  Sometimes you just have to be patient with these guys, and Goff is proof positive.  And what happened with the Rams, is very rare.  The Browns honestly thought they then were like the Rams, when the realty was they more like the Lions.  Then Flacco showed up and ran the same offense Baker had run and had incredible success.  Let’s not forget, that offense, and Baker won a playoff game in Pittsburgh for us, and took the Chiefs to the brink on the road in the playoffs.  Flacco took us to the playoffs too.

Last year Baker humiliated the Eagles in the playoffs and took the Lions to the brink on the road the next week.  That’s all fact, but my point here is this.  Baker Mayfield has his issues, but he can play at a high level in the NFL, and that’s what matters.  The Browns were not thinking properly at that moment. It looked emotional and personal.  All those core players too came up around the same time. Garrett, Ward, Chubb, Njoku, Botonio and others and a foundation was intact.

Let’s say they signed Baker then, you would have him for half of Watson’s money.  You’d have an offense that Stefanski knows how to run.  You’d have maintained a great running game.  You would have your offensive coaching friends here, and you added Schwartz’s defense.  You would have all six of those wonderful draft picks you traded, and all the problem players we had would still be just as gone.  Imagine all that, do you think if it played out that way, you’d be 3-8 now?  You wouldn’t be in salary cap hell for two more years that’s for sure.

Would we be elite?  I don’t know, but I know we wouldn’t be here.  The last time we had that guy here healthy we won a playoff game and gave the Chiefs all they could handle in their stadium two games in a row.  Now we’re in deep trouble, with a player who is not good on the field, exceedingly unpopular and unavailable most of the time.  Now speculation about the coach being canned?  Will this exact same bunch be back next year to pick up the shattered season of 2024?

All of the very serious trouble today can be walked back to jettisoning a guy that yes, was a pain in the butt at times like many young stars are.  But maybe dealing with a little trouble then  –  like adults do  –  would have spared us the absolute disaster of today.