Baker Mayfield was completely outplayed by the quarterback who replaced him in Cleveland, as the Buccaneers suffered an embarrassing loss to Deshaun Watson and the Browns.
The Cleveland Browns getting rid of Baker Mayfield for Deshaun Watson has been one of the worst mistakes any NFL team has made this century.
Watson, one of the league's best and most exciting players while with the Houston Texans, has devolved into possibly the worst QB in the NFL with the Browns.
And that's just when he's been on the field, which has been a rare occurrence since he arrived in Cleveland.
Mayfield, meanwhile, has found a home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a tough 2022 season split between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield was given the chance to revive his career in Tampa.
In his first two years with the Bucs, Mayfield made his first two Pro Bowls, led Tampa to a pair of division titles, and won a playoff game. In 2024, he set career highs with 4,500 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, and a 71.4 completion percentage. A down year in 2025 still saw Mayfield throw for 3,693 yards and 26 scores. He has started all 51 games in his three seasons with Tampa heading into this year, and signed a three-year, $165 million contract extension right before Week 1.
Coming into this season, injuries and suspensions have limited Watson to playing in only 19 of 68 possible games for the Browns, throwing for a total of 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns.
I guess $230 million doesn't buy what it used to.
On Sunday, Mayfield and Watson squared off against each other for the first time since the former's ugly exit from Cleveland. There aren't many players in the NFL with Mayfield's pride. Even though he took the high road when discussing playing against his former team, everyone knew he wanted to twist the knife even deeper into the Browns' back.
Instead, Mayfield fell on his own knife. He was completely outplayed by Watson in what can only be described as a horribly embarrassing loss for the Buccaneers.
Mayfield Couldn't Get It Going
While Watson played maybe his best game as a Brown, Mayfield just couldn't get it going against his former club.
The 2018 top overall pick completed only 21 of his 34 passes for 182 yards. He threw one touchdown and one interception. Mayfield finished with a poor 73.6 passer rating and a very average 51.3 QBR.
Mayfield watched Watson as he lit up the Bucs' defense all afternoon. Watson finished 24 for 30 for 238 yards, a pair of TDs, and no interceptions. He had a passer rating of 121.9, nearly 50 points higher than Mayfield. Watson's QBR was an impressive 70.4.
Most importantly, Watson's Browns delivered Mayfield's Bucs a back-breaking loss that drops Tampa to 0-2 and takes away what little faith anyone might have had that the team would return to the postseason this season.
Mayfield had a chance to be the hero at the end, but after driving the Bucs all the way down to Cleveland's 13, his fourth-and-11 pass fell incomplete and sealed Tampa's fate.
Final Thoughts
All losses hurt, but this one will hurt a lot more for both Mayfield and the Bucs.
Although nothing will change the fact that tossing Mayfield aside to make way for Watson was an awful decision, Mayfield was unable to stick it to his former team in a highly publicized matchup. Mayfield has a lot of pride, and while he has moved on from Cleveland, what the Browns did to him was hurtful, humiliating, and nearly cost him his NFL career, at least as a starter.
The Bucs, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 after losing as heavy favorites at home to one of the league's worst teams. The season isn't over, but if Tampa can't beat Cleveland at home, who can they beat?
Expect calls for coach Todd Bowles to be fired. Expect a lot of concerns over star rookie Rueben Bain Jr., who was invisible in his second straight game to begin his career.
Cleveland and Watson have been the butt of jokes for the last four years, but on Sunday, they were the ones laughing.
