Baker Mayfield needs to show the Cleveland Browns he can lead

Baker Mayfield got ripped by an unnamed talent evaluator over his inability to lead, something he needs to show the Cleveland Browns he can do.

The Cleveland Browns have had four head coaches, and two general managers, all in three years. Yeah, it’s easy to give Baker Mayfield a pass on some things. One unnamed talent evaluator though believes it’s Mayfield’s ego and not his play that’s the biggest issue. Talking to Mike Sando of the Athletic, the unnamed “talent evaluator”, ripped Mayfield’s ability to lead to shreds in his assessment of the Browns quarterback.

"Look at last year how many opportunities he had to make a play on third down and did not do it. You can’t blame it all on coaching. And he’s not a leader. He doesn’t say the right things. To me, a lot of that position is, can you lead? And he hasn’t proven so far that he can lead. Look how many times he was in the news for saying something stupid. He had to apologize to his own team. It’s one thing if you’re winning. He’s not. Go to the podium with a little humility."

While his play is up for a much broader debate, his leadership skills even into 2020 have been suspect. While fans may not agree, Mayfield continued to make missteps by not taking a pandemic seriously enough. Mayfield arranged for a group of his receivers to meet up and run routes together, despite most states still being shut down at the time.

Making the matter even worse with regards to optics, was that the NFL, not long after would advise talent from doing just what Mayfield and his teammates did. Something that’s still being ignored as training camp draws near. If Mayfield was being a leader, he would’ve prioritized the health, safety, and wellness of himself, his family, his teammates, and their families over what amounted to in-group studying.

Mayfield has gotten his foot trapped in his mouth before, and might again. Yet, to his credit, he’s not been making headlines for anything too inflammatory this year. Yes, the ill-advised meetup aside, he’s largely been out of the headlines for anything negative. Outside of gossip that is.

Mayfield has to realize, as does his contingent of fans, that being mature and responsible enough to make the right moves on a football field directly relates and coincides with his ability to do so off the field. While Mayfield is not the bust many in the media think he could be, his ability to mature and make better decisions will be the reasons he succeeds or fails. Not his touchdown to interception ratio.

Despite getting trashed seven ways from Sunday, Mayfield has been uncharacteristically quiet this offseason. A sign that he’s on the right path. That doesn’t mean he’s done and can slack off by any means. Yet, getting himself in shape, staying away from confrontations with media members, and putting in the work will redefine his legacy.

He just has to stay consistent with his new approach.