Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes in Cleveland's win over the Bengals Sunday, and now has nine against just one interception in the three games since Hue Jackson was fired as the Browns' head coach. (Frank Victores/AP)
The Cleveland Browns will choose a new coach at the end of the season, but first a new coach must choose them. There are only 32 NFL head coaching positions, so any time one opens up it is bound to be highly coveted. Even with scarce availability, as the Browns know from ample recent experience, there are degrees of attractiveness. The Browns will be far from the only team hiring a new coach, and so to have their pick, a franchise ensconced in on-field misery will have to sell itself to its preferred candidate.
When making their case, the Browns need only to start with the play of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield in the aftermath of former coach Hue Jackson’s ouster. Mayfield, the first overall pick last spring, experienced highs (snapping the Browns’ interminable winless streak in his first appearance) and lows (20 sacks, six interceptions a 78.9 quarterback rating) in the six games he played under Jackson. In the three games since, Mayfield has both revealed the full extent of his sparkling potential and made Cleveland — no, really, Cleveland — a desirable coaching destination.
Mayfield led the Browns to a 35-20 victory in Cincinnati over the Bengals on Sunday, his third victory in eight games as the Browns’ starter. He became the first Browns quarterback to start three wins in a season since Brian Hoyer in 2014. Afterward, Mayfield talked about how experience has made him more comfortable. But he also made clear Cleveland’s improved performance owes, in part, to the coaching change.
“We still have the same players,” Mayfield said at a postgame news conference. “We just had to play better. You can put your own spin on it. We have people we believe in calling the plays now.”
[Baker Mayfield and the Browns give Hue Jackson a frosty reception in win over Bengals]
In his past three games, which came after Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were dismissed and Freddie Kitchens took over as play caller, Mayfield has completed 73.9 percent of his passes for 771 yards and nine touchdowns, throwing only one interception and taking just two sacks. The Chiefs, Falcons and Bengals, Cleveland’s opponents in those three games, rank among the league’s most generous defenses. Still, Mayfield has proven he’s not only capable, but a potential star at the most critical position in sports.
Nothing much can be concluded from a three-game sample, but three games may be the fairest and most telling measure of Mayfield’s nascent NFL career. Mayfield was surviving a circus during the first half of the season as much as he was running an NFL offense.
After Sunday’s victory, Mayfield marched to midfield and encountered Jackson, who has joined Cincinnati’s staff as a defensive coach. Jackson should have known the Browns’ strengths and weaknesses better than anybody, but his defensive input failed to help Cincinnati; Mayfield threw four touchdown passes. When Jackson tried to embrace his former quarterback, Mayfield offered only a perfunctory handshake.
“He said good job, good game,” Mayfield said. “It was brief. Didn’t feeling like talking.”
Pressed further, Mayfield clarified he was the one who kept the exchange short.
“He left Cleveland, goes down to Cincinnati,” Mayfield said. “It’s somebody that was in our locker room, asking for us to play for him, and then goes to a team we play twice a year. Everybody can have their spin on it, but that’s how I feel.”
Mayfield had reason to prefer staying distant. Jackson and Haley feuded all season, engaging in a power struggle about who called plays, who took credit and who received blame. It was a worrisome incubator of Mayfield’s talent and threatened to stunt his development. The early signs under interim coach Gregg Williams — a longtime defensive coach who himself has little experience to help Mayfield grow in today’s game — are that Mayfield emerged from the dysfunction without it having stained him.
For potential coaches, that should make Cleveland an appealing job, maybe the most appealing job available. The chance to work with Mayfield, a unique talent with moxie to spare and a mind for modern offense, would alone be enticing.
[NFL defenses need to make their own big plays]
The Browns also have a pair of defensive building blocks in defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward, the first and fourth overall picks in the past two drafts, respectively. Rookie Nick Chubb will be something between solid and sensational at running back, and wideout Jarvis Landry is a Pro Bowler who’d make a perfect compliment to another star on the outside. The Browns’ talent, particularly on defense, is legit.
If the roster was the only consideration, Cleveland would probably be the most appealing destination of any head coaching job potentially available. Another obvious contender would be the Packers if Mike McCarthy does not survive in Green Bay. Coaches would crawl across hot coals for the chance to coach Aaron Rodgers. But the Browns probably have better overall talent, and Mayfield is a rookie while Rodgers is in his mid-30s.
But the Packers are one of the league’s crown-jewel franchises, a model despite their small market. The Browns job loses luster when the focus shifts away from the field. Owner Jimmy Haslam has overseen nothing but turnover, chaos and losing in his six years at the helm. At any given moment, you need an almanac to figure out who’s running the football operation. John Dorsey, the executive who built much of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-contending roster before losing his job and coming to the Browns, may help stabilize the front office.
The Browns will have to assure candidates they can competently run an organization. But there shouldn’t be much selling to do. The first thing any coach needs is a quarterback, and Cleveland has one. The Browns don’t need their next coach to put their faith in an unknown future. There’s proof now, in the form of Baker Mayfield.
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