Team Baker vs. Team Hater: The tale of two sides

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

You don’t "like" Baker Mayfield. No, really, you don’t. No one does. That’s not the way it works with him.

"Like" signifies a relatively neutral position, and no one is on the fence when it comes to Mayfield. You’re either Team Baker, and you love him, or you're Team Hater, and you don’t.

There are many better quarterbacks in the National Football League, and yes, Deshaun Watson is one of them, but there is none who splits opinion more strongly than Mayfield, who was still the nominal Cleveland Browns QB as of early Wednesday but probably won't be for much longer.

Now that the 26-year-old has reached what looks to be a career crossroads, the debate is going to be sharp and spiky, brought to a head by the Browns' embarking on an all-out courtship to position themselves as Watson’s landing spot when he finally leaves the Houston Texans.

Team Hater thinks Mayfield is getting what he deserves and painting him as an unspectacular former No. 1 draft pick who never matched his potential, starred in too many commercials and had the 27th-best QBR last season.

Team Baker — and wow, was that a fired up and vociferous group on social platforms Tuesday night — believes the Browns’ actions in making him a lame duck smack of ingratitude. The pro-Mayfield camp insist that he deserves a better reward for turning around the franchise’s fortunes following years of abject ineptitude in Cleveland.

Whichever camp you are in, Mayfield provides exactly what you need to become more entrenched in your opinion. Those who love him loved what he did in response to the Watson meeting, penning a warm personal message to the people of Cleveland in what was widely interpreted as a goodbye note.

"I have given the franchise everything I have," he wrote. "That is something I've always done at every stage, and at every level. And that will not change wherever I take my next snap. Whatever happens. I just want to say thank you to the fans who truly embraced who I am and the mentality that aligned so well with this city's hard working people."

To Team Baker, this was classic Baker, a heart-on-the-sleeve missive from a guy who understood them and lifted their souls, who was at the center of the team's first winning season in 13 years and first playoff win in twice as long.

After helping the Browns to the brink of the AFC Championship game in January 2021, Mayfield suffered a torn labrum in Week 2 of the season just passed — and played through it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t go so well, with the Browns finishing 8-9 to miss the postseason before watching their AFC North rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, reach the Super Bowl.

"[People say] ‘bet on yourself, play through injury, it matters how you represent yourself,’" FS1’s Nick Wright said on "First Things First." "No, it doesn’t. Baker did all those things. And they’re going to ship [him] somewhere awful. I feel badly for Baker in this. I think he’s a good — not great — but good player, and he’s getting the short end of the stick through very little doing of his own."

But to Team Hater it was classic Mayfield, too, framed as a dramatic response to a fluid situation that didn’t provide much help to anybody. This thing could move quickly. Watson will have his pick of teams. Mayfield’s preferred destination in a trade is said to be the Indianapolis Colts. Either way, it is difficult to see him returning to Cleveland now. Going public the way he did might not have blown the bridge to smithereens, but it certainly set it afire.

Mayfield is due to make $19 million in 2022, the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. A solid campaign would have positioned him for a big payday in the $40 million range, which might explain in part why the Browns are looking elsewhere. At that money, even the strongest of Mayfield supporters would agree there is a sizable element of risk.

It's a risk, presumably, that the Browns wanted no part of. Their actions indicate as much and signified a clear lack of desire to keep Mayfield happy or spare his feelings. Is that a team that has already decided to move on, no matter what happens with Watson?

Looking at it from Mayfield’s point of view, Tuesday’s events could be taken as nothing but disrespect. A private jet of Browns executives flew to Watson’s backyard to pitch themselves to a highly controversial figure who just sat out a season. Watson still faces a civil lawsuit in relation to multiple alleged sexual assaults.

Mayfield was never going to respond cheerily, and we shouldn’t be surprised. He’s fiery and always has been, and there was no chance of this being resolved with a clean and clinical transaction.

Mayfield is polarizing and competitive, and that’s not going to change. Before too long, he will likely join the second team of his NFL career, but when he does, remember this: With Mayfield, there are always two teams — Team Baker and Team Hater — and they’re never going to agree.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.