This just seems weird to say out loud at this point. Like you think, that as a fan, I don't want a better record.
I'm pretty confident in saying Baker Mayfield is not leading a team to the Super Bowl in this timeline. I would love to see it. I hope you and a bunch of other Browns fans get to gloat and say "Baker Mayfield could have done that in Cleveland"
He has some really good stats this season, with a 9-7 record, and gets to play the Saints, again, without David Carr as his win and get in. A lot of people really don't like context, even after they ask for it, but it's still important.
And still we're talking about just THIS season? And he has a chance to not help the team improve their record over last year, and once again, get in the playoffs.
Look at Baker's game against the Ravens. That is Baker. I don't contend that the team could have been better off if the coaches decided to continue to work with him. Baker couldn't stay ahead of Sam Darnold or PJ Walker in Carolina.
Yeah, context is a bitch. Tampa beat Detroit at Detroit and San Diego at San Diego. They beat Washington at home and Philly at home. They played the Chiefs tough, lost 30-24. Lost at the Ravens 41-31. While he did throw two picks in that game, he was also 31-45 for 370 yds and 3 TDs. As I have said many times before, he throws too many ints. But you compare Baker's stats the last two years to our QBs stats for the same time period and it ain't close. And Baker was almost as good last season as this season.
I want more than anything else in the world for the Browns to be good every season. If we win the Super Bowl, great. But we have to get good first. I'd settle for a few division titles at this point. What hurts me more than anything is what we had (not just Baker), relevance and a chance to win every game. We lost that when Baker tried to tackle the dude from Houston. We gave up on him and decided to take a crap shot on someone who was disgraced, and we know now, mentally damaged as well. Watson was broken by that scandal and more than likely will never be a top 20 QB much less a franchise QB ever again. But he got bank.
But you're right, Baker was still not right at the start of 2022, but he finally started throwing it well when he got to L.A. So even if we had stuck with him in 2022, he wouldn't have been good until well into the season and surely our complete lack of patience as an organization would have booted him anyway.
We probably could have gotten Baker for 5 years at 25 mil a season in 2022, and kept the 3 first rounders. Where would we be if we'd given him some time to get right? A fuck-ton better than we are right now.
I don't know if you remember, but I was all in on us getting Mahomes whatever it took. But even if we had, or even drafted Watson instead of trading that pick like the idiots we can be, we probably would have fucked up Mahomes or Watson and kicked them to the curb if they struggled at all, and with good old Hue, that would have been very likely.
I love the Browns, but since the Watson trade, I've been completely fucking disgusted with them for blowing a chance for us be good year after year and start growing a winning culture. I'm 66 now and may never see another relevant Browns team.
