Wild coaching stat proves Baker Mayfield has never had a fair shake

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield had an absurd amount of head coaches in his first five seasons in the NFL.

Ahead of Week 14, the Los Angeles Rams claimed Baker Mayfield off of waivers to help fill out their quarterback depth with Matthew Stafford sidelined for the season. Less than two days with the team, Mayfield led the Rams to a 17-16 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. One week later, Mayfield received his first official start for the Rams, as they took on the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football.

While this is Mayfield’s third team in the NFL, you may have forgotten how many head coaches he had during his five year career. The ESPN broadcast put up a graphic that showed Mayfield’s seven head coaches in the NFL thus far, which is the most for a quarterback since 1950.

Baker Mayfield had absurd amount of head coaches in his first five NFL seasons

Mayfield entered the NFL as the first-overall pick by the Cleveland Browns. His head coach at the time was Hue Jackson, who notably won just three games in three years at the helm. He was then fired during the 2018 season, and replaced by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on an interim basis. Williams, in fact, almost led the team to a playoff berth in 2018.

In 2019, the Browns promoted offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens to be the next sideline boss. Even though the team made some big additions that offseason, including wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland missed out on the playoffs. Mayfield threw 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions that season. Kitchens was fired after just one year.

From 2020 until 2021, Mayfield had former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as his head coach. Mayfield had a solid first season with Stefanski, as he threw for 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while completing 62.8-percent of his passes. In fact, the Browns made it to the playoffs that year and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round for their first postseason victory since 1994. But in 2021, Mayfield played through a shoulder injury and had a drop-off in production.

Months after the Browns acquired and signed Deshaun Watson to be their quarterback, Mayfield was dealt to the Carolina Panthers. He started in the teams’ first five games of the season before picking up an ankle sprain. After that Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule. Defensive passing game coordinator Steve Wilks was named the interim head coach.

Then, after Week 13, Mayfield requested his release from the team, and was placed on waivers. The Rams claimed him, and he is now playing for head coach Sean McVay.

There you have it, seven head coaches for Mayfield since being selected first-overall in 2018. This offseason, Mayfield is set to become a free agent. Will he see his eighth different head coach entering his sixth year?