“I have never experienced anything like the canceling of him” - Skip Bayless can’t believe the amount of negativity Baker Mayfield receives
Not many players in NFL history can say they've reached the mountain top and fallen to the bottom in as short a time as Baker Mayfield. Just 14 months ago, Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns to their first playoff win in 26 seasons. Mayfield will now be lucky to have a job as a backup entering the 2022 season.
Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless is one of Mayfield's loudest supporters. On his most recent episode of The Skip Bayless Show, the long-time analyst admitted he's never seen this much negativity pointed at a player in his 48 years covering the sport. Bayless said,
“I still believe in Baker Mayfield exactly the way I did from the start. In my career, I first covered pro football right out of college. I covered Don Shula's Miami Dolphins at the Miami Herald, that was 1974. That's how long I've been doing this. And in my career, I have never experienced anything like the canceling of Baker Mayfield. He has been canceled by all social media. He is over, he is out, he is defunct; he is a bust, according to everything I read and hear. Now starting to seep into all the media coverage of Baker Mayfield.”
Whether or not you're a fan of Mayfield, it's hard to argue Bayless' take that the bulk of the NFL community has developed an unfavorable view of the former number one overall pick.
Bayless still believes the former Oklahoma Sooners star can play good football. But he's in the minority with that belief, as the 2021 season couldn't have been more destructive to Mayfield's reputation.
It feels like I'm the last man on earth still defending Baker Mayfield.
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How did Baker Mayfield's stock sink so low so fast?
Baker Mayfield was on the path to becoming one of the star quarterbacks in the AFC we marvel over today. After defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs last January, Mayfield wanted a contract extension to secure his long-term future.
The Browns declined to extend him, which began leading Mayfield to where he's at now. In Week 2 of last season, Mayfield suffered a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder.
The injury worsened with each passing week, and his numbers at the end of the season were poor. The NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" type of league. His below-average 2021 season convinced the Browns (and the majority of NFL pundits) that Mayfield isn't a guy that should be starting games.
Baker Mayfield went to the absolute worst possible situation of life & changed a franchise that had sucked for decades & made them a playoff team
He destroys his throwing shoulder, tries to play through it, and the team is spitting in his face because of it
Browns being Browns.
The Browns were non-committal to Mayfield entering the 2022 offseason, despite him being in the final season of a relatively affordable rookie contract. Their successful pursuit of the highly-controversial Deshaun Watson was the last nail in Mayfield's coffin with the team that drafted him four years ago.
Having requested a trade ten days ago, the rest of the league seems to have zero interest in taking a chance on the former Heisman Trophy winner.
With very few teams still without their signal-callers for 2022, it'll be fascinating to see if Mayfield gets his trade request granted. If not, he could be stuck in an awkward spot being the backup quarterback to Watson for another year in Cleveland.