Mike Tannenbaum’s hot takes about the Cleveland Browns are just bad

ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum proves why he’s on T.V. and not leading a football team like the Cleveland Browns.

Ryan Hollins is the worst “hot-take” guy in the business. So bad that ESPN actually stopped using him as often (or at all). Mike Tannenbaum however decided to go find Hollin’s shoes and put them on to complete his ESPN-clown attire. The former EVP for the Miami Dolphins, who was an out and out failure, by the way, decided to dip his toe into the “hot take waters” on Friday’s edition of Get Up on ESPN. The take was so deep into those waters that even his colleagues couldn’t resist laughing at his horrid take about Baker Mayfield.

Tennenbaum said that Mayfield was going to be on a “…very, very short lease”, and that “….as soon as those picks start, he’ll be on the sidelines.”

As soon….as they start. So….after one? Mayfield will be benched after just one interception? Tannenbaum can’t be that naive to actually think that. It got worse, however, as Tannenbaum actually said that head coach Kevin Stefanski will not hesitate to bench Mayfield after the first bump in the road as a power move. Benching a quarterback, who’s on his fourth head coach in three years, and his third system in as many seasons after one minor issue? There’s a reason why no one in the NFL wants to hire Tannenbaum.

The take was so bad, just so egregiously bad, that Dominique Foxworth and Dan Orlovsky couldn’t maintain their composure and outright laughed at Tannenbaum’s outlandish prediction.

No one, not even the host Ryan Smith thought that take was clever or insightful. Firstly, Mayfield did have struggles last year but it rarely had to do with his composure, his effort, or talent. It had to do with him trying to force plays to happen after then head coach Freddie Kitchens abandoned the gameplan. When you’re left with dysfunction, the most you can do is try to navigate the chaos and Mayfield did a great job in a really awful situation.

Sports, like with life, requires nuance. It’s not so easy to form an observation. Most people see Mayfield’s 2019 season and go “OH WELL HE FAILED!” Except both of his receivers needed season-ending surgery that was pushed off until the ends of the year, the tight ends were only ever seen on milk cartons (cus they were missing), the offensive line was like the Vatican on Sunday (holey) and the running attack was often abandoned mid-game.

The fact that Mayfield had the third-best statistical season for the Browns since 1999 with all that going on is really impressive.

I wouldn’t expect Tannenbaun to factor in all of that into his takes. After all, saying something dumb will get ESPN more ratings than if someone said something right.