Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield said on social media Tuesday that he never heard from coach Kevin Stefanski after Cleveland traded him to Carolina in 2022.
Now the two are in the NFC South after Atlanta hired Stefanski on Saturday.
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“Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage,” Mayfield posted. “Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach.”
The Browns drafted Mayfield, a Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma, first overall in 2018. He played four seasons in Cleveland, passing for 3,725 yards in his first season and throwing and a then-NFL rookie record 27 touchdown passes. In Stefanski’s first season in 2020, Mayfield led the Browns to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and their first postseason victory in 26 seasons.
But Mayfield also struggled with consistency — throwing 22 TD passes and 21 interceptions in 2019 — and wasn’t afraid to confront critics of his play.
After being traded to the Panthers, Mayfield found his career at a crossroads. He revived it in Tampa Bay, leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs in 2023 and 2024 before a late-season collapse that kept the Bucs out of this year’s postseason.
Stefanski coached the Browns for six years before he was fired after this season. The Falcons hired him less than two weeks later.
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