Baker Mayfield is heading into Week 2 with a familiar opponent on the other sideline and a little extra edge built in.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Cleveland Browns on September 20, it will be one of the more compelling early-season non-conference games on the schedule. For Mayfield, it will also be personal. Cleveland made him the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he spent the first four seasons of his career there before the relationship fell apart after the 2021 season.
Mayfield gave the Browns stability at quarterback after years of searching, and he even helped deliver a playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But things changed fast when Cleveland made a very public push to replace him with Deshaun Watson. The move came after Watson had accumulated about two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, leading to an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine from the league.
The Browns still moved on from Mayfield and handed Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million deal. Watson has not come close to matching the level Cleveland expected, and his time with the team has been defined by suspension and injuries. In four seasons in Cleveland, he has played in only 19 games.
Mayfield’s split from the Browns was ugly, and he was dealing with a torn labrum and other injuries during his final season there. Now he gets the chance to face the team that moved on from him in a very public way.
When he talked about the matchup on the Rich Eisen Show, Mayfield kept the focus on the game itself and on winning.
"Honestly, it's just about winning. I couldn't care less about what's going on with the quarterback situation in their building. It's just about beating them and letting them know that I've found a home."
He also touched on the ongoing competition in Cleveland between Watson and second-year QB Shedeur Sanders, but made clear where his attention is going. For Mayfield, the message is simple: he wants to beat the Browns, and he wants them to know he’s in a better place now.
In Other News...
Buccaneers Still Carry One Doubt The Rest Of The NFC Sees
The Buccaneers spent the offseason trying to answer the same questions that have lingered around them for months, and NFL executives still do not seem fully sold on the fixes. In a recent survey, Tampa Bay landed 10th among 16 NFC teams, a slot that reflects the leagues split view of a roster some see as a legitimate division threat and others as a team that could drift below .500.
The concerns are familiar enough to be stubborn: whether the running game can become reliable, whether Baker Mayfields contract situation adds another layer of uncertainty, and whether the secondary can hold up better than it did at times last season. Tampa Bay did bring in free agents and a rookie class that drew encouragement, but the broader expectation around the league is still cautious, with the Buccaneers left to prove they belong in the upper half of the conference. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs First Round Pass Rusher Is Drawing Serious Early Buzz
Early buzz around Rueben Bain Jr. has been building quickly since the Buccaneers made him the 15th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and it has only grown through practices and preseason work. Tampa Bay targeted him to help change the edge of its defense, and the early returns have matched the kind of attention a first-round pass rusher usually brings when he starts flashing right away.
Bain has already drawn praise for his work ethic and physical style, the kind of traits teams love to see from a young defender trying to earn real snaps fast. Hes also the current betting favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year, which speaks to how much confidence is already surrounding him, from former coach Jon Gruden to general manager Jason Licht, even before the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Former Buccaneers Coach Greg Schiano Is Under Pressure Again
Greg Schianos second stint at Rutgers has been measured against the expectation that he would steady a program he once helped define, but the latest setback landed with extra force. Rutgers fell to UMass, a team that entered the matchup buried in a long losing streak, and the Scarlet Knights also paid $1.5 million for the game, a detail that only sharpened the frustration around the result.
Since Schiano returned in 2020, Rutgers has shown a mixed record under his watch, enough to keep the conversation around the program from ever fully settling. A loss like this does more than sting in the moment - it raises the kind of questions that follow a coach into every press conference, especially when the wins are hard to stack and the margin for patience can start to shrink. [Read more 🡒]