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Baker Mayfield’s shot at his former Browns coach isn’t sitting well with a franchise legend.
Shortly after Mayfield alleged Tuesday that Kevin Stefanski did not reach out to him following the QB’s ugly breakup and trade from the Browns in 2022, Joe Thomas, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle who spent his 11-year career in Cleveland, asked the quarterback why he didn’t initiate a conversation himself.
“I could be wrong…but I’ve heard that communication is a 2-way street and there were no laws against you (Baker) sending Stefanski a text or calling him after you got traded,” Thomas wrote Wednesday on X.
Mayfield, the Browns’ first-overall pick in 2018, came under Stefanski’s tutelage in 2020, when he was named coach of the franchise.
Although the Browns reached the playoffs in Stefanski’s first season, when the club finished 11-5, they fell short of expectations the following year at 8-9.
The team moved in a different direction at quarterback in March 2022, trading for the embattled Deshaun Watson and signing him to a five-year deal worth $230 million fully guaranteed. That left Mayfield without a chair when the music stopped, and led to a trade to the Panthers in July of that year.
He joined the Rams at the conclusion of the 2022 season and later signed with the Buccaneers, his home since 2023.
Meanwhile, Stefanski’s time in Cleveland ended this month after a 5-12 campaign full of uneven quarterback play — the subject of a post that originally sparked Mayfield’s fiery take on the Falcons’ new coach.
“Failed is quite the reach pal,” Mayfield replied to an X user, who suggested Stefanski “had a dumpster fire at quarterback in Cleveland,” and cited failures in the QB and Watson.
“Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach.”
Stefanski agreed to take the job with Atlanta on Saturday.
The NFC South saw a three-way tie for first this season, with the Falcons, Panthers and Mayfield’s Bucs finishing at 8-9. The Panthers won the tiebreaker and lost to the Rams in the wild-card round.
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