What the Jaguars Can Learn From the Baker Mayfield Trade

The Jaguars can't have Trevor Lawrence's career pan out the way of a recent No. 1 overall pick.

The Jacksonville Jaguars should be paying close attention. 

Just a few days ago, the Cleveland Browns put an end to their relationship with former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield by trading him to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional fifth-round pick. 

It was an anti-climatic end to a tumultuous and disappointing era for the Browns and Mayfield, with the former top pick's star dying out after once shining as bright as one could.

The Jaguars should take stock in where things went wrong for Mayfield, because they can't let them go that wrong with Trevor Lawrence, their own No. 1 pick and hopeful franchise savior. 

There aren't many aspects in which Mayfield and Lawrence can be compared. Each had illustrious college careers, though Lawrence's background is that of an elite recruit and hyped generational quarterback prospect, while Mayfield was a three-star recruit and eventual walk-on turned starting quarterback.

Their skill sets are vastly different, too. Even at his best at Oklahoma, Mayfield struggled on third-downs, against pressure and in high-leverage situations, instead thriving as a point guard-type quarterback when ahead of the chains. Lawrence, meanwhile, is a prototypical quarterback prospect from a physical and mental standpoint. 

Then there are the personalities. Mayfield has an infamously braggadocious personality, while Lawrence is more laid-back. 

But where the two can be compared is where they landed as No. 1 picks. Few fan bases are as starved for quarterback success as the Browns' and Jaguars'. Few franchises have the laundry list of on-field and off-field gaffes in their pursuit for franchise-changing quarterbacks. 

Even fewer have had the disastrous coaching hires each franchise has made in recent years, ranging from all-time losing coaches in Gus Bradley and Hue Jackson to undeserving head coaches in Urban Meyer and Freddie Kitchens.

The Browns, like the Jaguars, wasted Mayfield's rookie season with Jackson. The Browns then made the mistake of hiring Kitchens during Mayfield's sophomore campaign, an ill-fated experiment that lasted just a year.

Then the Browns made the hire that the Jaguars are hoping they made with Doug Pederson. The Browns hired Kevin Stefanski to be their new head coach, hoping the offensive-minded coach would be able to form a long-term partnership with Mayfield and get the absolute best out of him. 

The issue? Mayfield and Stefanski were never a fit for each other, on or off the field. The more stories that come out of their time together, the more clear it is the Browns either never made a hire who could benefit Mayfield, or they never drafted a quarterback who could benefit their coach.

The Jaguars need to ensure they don't run into the same issues with Lawrence. Lawrence, on the surface, appears to be an easier quarterback to gel with than Mayfield. But the Jaguars can't afford to keep swinging and missing on the important quarterback-head coach dynamic like the Browns did with Mayfield. 

Mayfield once had all of Cleveland in his hands, looking like the franchise quarterback the organization has so badly craved. But his inability to click with Stefanski -- and the Browns' inability to find a coach who could develop that connection with their top pick -- helped lead the Browns to make the controversial Deshaun Watson trade, ending the Mayfield era. 

The Jaguars already wasted Lawrence's rookie season on Meyer. 20% of Lawrence's rookie contract has now expired, 17 games of experience squandered under one of the worst head coaches in NFL history. 

Jacksonville can't make the same mistake with Lawrence. They can't afford to compound the Meyer mistake with more misses off the field. The Pederson hire was seemingly a step in the right direction, with Pederson and Lawrence appearing to form a bond and connection already that Mayfield and Stefanski struggled to build. 

But we heard similar reports of Mayfield and Stefanski clicking in 2020, even if things beneath the surface were not as cheery and positive. The Jaguars can't just hope that things will get better with Lawrence with Pederson at the helm; they have to work at it. They have to foster that relationship. They have to do what the Browns never did. 

For the Browns, trading Mayfield for a meager Day 3 pick just four years after taking him No. 1 overall can be summed up as nothing other than an unmitigated disaster.  

The Jaguars can't have Lawrence's career pan out the same. They need to build around him with the right people, the right players and the right coaches. And that is what they can learn from the Browns' divorce from Mayfield.