Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield discusses beef with former head coach, new NFC South rival Kevin Stefanski
The great Cleveland franchise quarterback hope after he was picked No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Browns, Mayfield started his career splendidly enough with a then-rookie-record 27 touchdown passes. By 2020, Mayfield was on his third head coach — Stefanski — and the two helped Cleveland to its first playoff berth in nearly 20 years and its first postseason win since 1994. However, things went awry in 2021 as Mayfield battled through injuries and the Browns had an 8-9 record.
He was traded away to the Carolina Panthers, “shipped off like a piece of garbage,” per his January post.
From the Panthers, Mayfield made his way to the Los Angeles Rams and eventually the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In all his travels, he’s faced Stefanski just once: a Week 1, 2022 loss starting for the Panthers against the Browns in which he had 235 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception in a 26-24 setback.
Interviewed while endorsing Sonic Drive-In, Mayfield had a burger and fries in front of him and was asked if he’d ever share the former with Stefanski.
“Maybe we will have one after the game in Atlanta,” he said. “I don’t know. I have two opportunities to see next year if we are going to share a burger.”
Though Mayfield’s yet to oppose Stefanski as a member of the Buccaneers, he’s certainly no stranger to playing against the Falcons, and the results haven’t been awesome. Mayfield’s 2-4 versus Atlanta during his time with Tampa Bay. The Falcons also sealed the Bucs missing out on the playoffs in 2025, as their Week 18 win over the New Orleans Saints allowed the Carolina Panthers to win the NFC South via tiebreaker.
“No, not really,” Mayfield said when asked if he viewed the upcoming tilts against the Falcons as revenge games. “I mean, well, not a revenge game of a sense of Atlanta but we lost the division for the first time since four or five years, so, any divisional game will be a revenge game, I guess.”
It’s been a long and winding NFL road for Mayfield through eight seasons, but he believes he’s landed where he belongs in Tampa, and now he’ll have a twice-a-year reunion with a familiar face from his past.
“Playing quarterback is difficult but it’s all about the right fit,” he said. “The people you are surrounded with, the staff, the organization then obviously giving you all the resources you need to have to have success. It’s such a hard position to play, the organizations that do take care of a lot of the other stuff like the day-to-day things for you to make your life easier, you got to be in the right situation.”
