EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTAMPA, Fla. -- Buccaneers senior offensive assistant/pass game specialist Ken Zampese was with quarterback Baker Mayfield just one year in Cleveland, but he saw enough then and now that has him convinced the Browns made a mistake trading him in 2022."They had the guy," Zampese, who was the Browns quarterbacks coach in 2018, told ESPN ahead of the teams' matchup Sunday in Tampa. "They had the guy and they gave him up."Mayfield faced the Browns in Week 1 in 2022 with the Panthers, but Jacoby Brissett was Cleveland's starting quarterback as Deshaun Watson was serving an 11-game suspension. The Panthers lost 26-24. This time, it will be Watson on the other side of the ball."The year we were there, we were one of the best offenses in the NFL the second half of that season, 5-3, in a place that was -- before that season started -- 1-31," Zampese said of Mayfield. "The script got flipped and the city came alive because they finally drafted a quarterback that worked out for them and they mucked it up. They mucked it up."When asked if he thinks the Browns share his sentiment, Zampese said, "Oh, I don't know. It doesn't matter. We got the guy we wanted [in Tampa] and that's what's important ..."Mayfield went 29-30 as a starter with the Browns, leading them to the playoffs in 2020, where they clinched their first postseason victory in 26 years with a 48-37 win at the Steelers. He threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns in that performance before losing to the Chiefs 22-17 in the AFC divisional round.That was the high point and what Mayfield has chosen to think about from his time in Cleveland."With any experience, there's ups and downs, good and bad," Mayfield said. "Ultimately, you remember the good more so than the bad - the first time having a playoff win since '94 there and going on the road and doing it in Pittsburgh. So it's a lot of good memories there. A lot of teammates that are friends for life."But Mayfield struggled with injuries the following year in 2021, including a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder suffered in Week 2. He wore a harness to stabilize the joint, but then-offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said it impacted his throwing mechanics. He also navigated knee and foot injuries. On top of that, Mayfield faced death threats on social media, and public criticism from teammate Odell Beckham Jr.'s father.Mayfield had also received criticism for some of the things he said publicly, such as calling former head coach Hue Jackson "fake." His brother Matthew had also taken to social media to express his own dissatisfaction with the Browns in 2018."Whenever a quarterback is drafted that high, everything's set up for you to fail. You haven't done this yet. You haven't accomplished this yet. I compared you with this guy in the history of the organization. I mean, goodness gracious," Zampese told ESPN.In March of 2022 -- two months after undergoing shoulder surgery -- Mayfield learned through social media that the team was pursuing Watson in a trade with the Texans. He told ESPN's Adam Schefter at the time, "It's in the mutual interest of both sides for us to move on. The relationship is too far gone to mend. It's in the best interests of both sides to move on."The Browns handed Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. In July 2022, they traded Mayfield to the Panthers for a conditional draft pick.The Panthers released him in December of that year, and he had a brief stint with the Rams, where he "fell in love with football again," playing in Sean McVay's system. That's also where he met his eventual Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen -- now the head coach of the Jaguars -- and his current offensive coordinator in Tampa, Zac Robinson.The Rams stint led to a one-year 'prove it' deal with the Bucs in 2023, culminating in an NFC South title that season and a wild-card playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. He'd lead the Bucs to another division title in 2024. An injury-marred season for both Mayfield and the Bucs set them back in 2025, but he was rewarded with a three-year, $165 million contract extension."I think for me it goes back to the faith, looking up and knowing that no matter what happens, if I control what I can control, I'm doing things the right way," Mayfield said. "Obviously I want to win as an ultra-competitor, that's what you want to do at all times. So having trust in that, having faith in that and taking it one day at a time."Mayfield told the "4th & South" podcast this summer that he's had this Week 2 game circled since the schedule came out.But in Week 1, he fumbled the ball three times in a season-opening 33-27 loss at the Bengals. When the conversation in postgame quickly shifted to Cleveland, his response was more measured: "Obviously, there's history there -- there's no way to go around that," Mayfield said.Much of his focus this week has been on the details of his performance rather than the opponent. Zampese believes that will help him manage his emotions, along with his ability to compartmentalize."Yeah, it's part of the job. And the guys that don't play the position very long, if you're ruled by your emotions that way, you're going to have a rollercoaster ride," Zampese said. "It's the ability to remove yourself from the ups and downs of that or just use it to provide energy and juice for the next situation to get into rather than thinking of the past and letting it bog you down ..."Watson was suspended 11 games to begin the 2022 season and fined $5 million for violating the league's personal conduct policy after he was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Two grand juries in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against him.In 2023, the Browns lost Watson to a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 10. In 2024, in Week 7, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in his right leg, forcing him to undergo surgery and then a second surgery after re-rupturing it in January of 2025. He has gone 9-11 in just 20 games as the Browns' starter, including a 34-10 loss to the Jaguars last week in which he threw a touchdown and an interception and was sacked five times. It wasn't even certain that Watson would start in Week 2 until new head coach Todd Monken announced it this week.Ironically, Monken was Mayfield's offensive coordinator in Cleveland in 2019. He believes he could have done a better job in guiding the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. They finished 6-10 that second season."I just know the competitor he is, and I've said it all along, I wish I had done a better job in '19," Monken said. "I've said that a lot of times. You've got to own the things you can be better at as a coach. And I'm sure there's certain things that, throughout the course of his life or career, he would look at the same way. Ultimately, I was not here for the rest of it, but I can just tell you that you want your players wired like Baker Mayfield."Monken applauded Monken's play -- which he said has been at an "elite level," along with his competitiveness, and the way he has held himself to a high standard and others to a high standard, describing it as "everything you're looking for in a player ... just in a human being in general."Mayfield acknowledged some of his own learning lessons from his time with the Browns, with a particular emphasis on his consistency as a leader."I think probably the biggest one -- trying to be the same person each and every day for the guys in the locker room, the people you work with, the staff that you're around each day, that some things are out of your control," Mayfield said. "If you're trying to get it fixed and you're not worried about the football aspects of your job, you're probably letting some things slide and fall by the wayside. So I think controlling who I am each and every day, trying to lead the best way possible and control the offense and ultimately win."Zampese praised Mayfield as a leader and called last week's game a "blip on the radar" and said that there's an even more "heightened awareness" heading into this one, with better ball security, not trying to do too much."He's carrying all of us," Zampese said. "He just got rewarded for the job he's done and we all have great confidence in him doing an even better job as we move forward. And I know he does too."ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.
