As Deshaun Watson crumbles, former Browns franchise savior thrives elsewhere

Three years into the Deshaun Watson debacle, and the Cleveland Browns must draft his replacement. Cleveland is tied with the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New England Patriots for the worst record in football at 1-5. Jimmy Haslam's decision to trade for the disgraced former starting quarterback of the Houston Texans has in turn made the AFC South team into a juggernaut.

With as many wins as the Browns have losses, Houston is going to be a real problem for everyone in the AFC, especially now that they know how to win in Foxborough, for whatever that is worth... Regardless, this biggest problem with the Watson decision is not that he is playing terribly on an immovable contract, but the fact his predecessor Baker Mayfield is absolutely thriving elsewhere.

Mayfield is now in year two as the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are 4-2 on the season and in a tight rice with the rival Atlanta Falcons for divisional supremacy. While the Buccaneers defense has been hit or miss, Mayfield has been mostly hit. He leads the NFL through six weeks with 15 touchdown passes and 17 total touchdowns on the season. He is an MVP candidate.

At this point, you have to wonder if Watson will throw for 15 touchdowns for the Browns this year.

Once again, coaching matters. More importantly, a team is only as good as ownership allows it to be.

Baker Mayfield is making the Cleveland Browns look dumber by the week

At times, I am beginning to wonder how lucky the Browns were to land Kevin Stefanski as head coach and Andrew Berry as their general manager. Prior to getting it right for the most part on most fronts, at least initially, it was a lot of Freddie Kitchens nonsense out there. Mayfield had an up-and-down four-year run in Cleveland. They moved on from him during his fifth-year contract season in 2022.

After bouncing around the league with the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams in 2022, Mayfield resurfaced as Tom Brady's replacement in Tampa Bay. He played for pennies on the dollar to have a shot at redemption. Mayfield has matured and has shined since donning a Buccaneers uniform. Todd Bowles has been steady as his head coach, even amid their two offensive coordinator changes.

Mayfield flourished last year in Dave Caneles' system. After he left for the Panthers' head-coaching opening, in came a familiar face in Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen, a guy Mayfield worked briefly with in Los Angeles. Mayfield is playing with tremendous confidence in Coen's system, possibly putting the latter on a fast track towards being an NFL head coach in a few seasons or so.

As for the Browns, they are holding the bag filled with Dawg Pound poo that reeks of Watson's play.