This is a weird one. Didn’t expect to wake up today and see a “Baker Mayfield makes random comment about Daniel Jones” story, but here are.

The Browns quarterback recently did an interview with GQ in which he took a pseudo swipe at the Giants’ rookie, unless he was specifically talking about the Giants “reaching” for the Duke player at #6 overall.

Here’s the full section from the article:

Near our booth, a SportsCenter segment about the New York Giants catches Mayfield’s eye. “I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones,” Mayfield says, about New York’s much-maligned draft-day decision to spend the sixth pick on the quarterback from Duke (whose college record was a measly 17–19). “Blows my mind.”

I tell Mayfield that I’m mystified that so many supposedly expert quarterback scouts seem unable to predict what makes a good NFL quarterback.

“Some people overthink it,” Mayfield says. “That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”

It’s not hard to sense that Mayfield is reflecting on his own history now. Despite compiling a 39–9 record in college, he faced a chorus of criticism before the draft. Those past slights are buried in a shallow grave. (A Browns teammate, Joel Bitonio, tells me that Mayfield plays with “the mentality of proving everybody who’s ever said something negative about him wrong.”)

To Mayfield, the characteristics of a great quarterback are simple. “Either you have a history of winning and being that guy for your team,” he says, “or you don’t.”

Reaction is all over the place, as you’d expect. Some people think Mayfield is an asshole. Others enjoy him being an NFL “heel” ala Jalen Ramsay and other trash talkers. That’s the type of person he’s been for a while now, and if it motivates him in a way that results in strong on-field performances, then I can’t begrudge that.


He was really good last year. Anybody who can make the Browns interesting again, they can say whatever the hell they wanna say. That’s my take.