Buccaneers Coach Says Browns Blew It Trading Away Baker Mayfield

Will the Cleveland Browns eventually regret moving on from Bucs’ Baker Mayfield?

Sep 13, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) warms up at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have plenty of motivation to beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, but perhaps no one on the roster wants the win more than quarterback Baker Mayfield does.

Mayfield came to Tampa Bay in 2023 after a wild 2022, where he was traded away from the Browns, the team that drafted him, in favor of QB Deshaun Watson. Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers, and after a disastrous first stint there, he was released halfway through the season and finished out the year with the Los Angeles Rams filling in for Matthew Stafford.

Mayfield went to Tampa Bay after that, and he's had arguably the best stretch of his career since then. He's run into a number of people he used to work with in Tampa Bay, most notably his former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Los Angeles, Liam Coen and Zac Robinson — Coen was his OC in 2024, and Robinson is now his OC in 2026.

There's another player on Tampa Bay's staff who was with Mayfield even further back than that, though, during his early days in Cleveland. And he made it clear that he believes the Browns' decision to move on from Mayfield was a big mistake.

Buccaneers Coach Says Browns 'Mucked It Up' Trading Baker Mayfield

Senior Offensive Assistant/Pass Game Specialist Ken Zampese, left, talks with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Buccaneers senior offensive assistant and pass game specialist Ken Zampese was with Mayfield during his rookie year in Cleveland in 2018 as the Browns' quarterbacks coach, so he knows him well. And in his mind, the Browns made a big mistake trading Mayfield away.

"They had the guy," Zampese told ESPN's Jenna Laine. "They had the guy and they gave him up... 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."

It's hard to argue with Zampese once you look at the stats. Since 2023, Mayfield boasts a passer rating of 97.5 with 12,453 yards, 95 touchdowns and 37 interceptions in 52 games with the Bucs. Watson, since joining the Browns in 2022, has a passer rating of 81.3 with 3,570 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in just 20 games played.

Watson is starting for the Browns against the Buccaneers on Sunday, and it will be the first time Mayfield has ever played against him since he joined up with Cleveland. Watson was on the roster when Mayfield played the Browns as a member of the Panthers in 2022, but Watson was serving an eleven-game suspension placed on him due to his facing 22 different sexual harassment civil lawsuits.

Now, the two finally get to face off on Sunday, and it could be another indicator of whether or not Zampese is right about Mayfield's history with the Browns.

The Bucs face the Browns in Raymond James Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sept 20.

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