Fired Browns Coach Could Reunite Soon With Baker Mayfield

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales to the Carolina Panthers for their head coaching vacancy, the Bucs are looking for a new offensive coordinator to work with starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.

The Buccaneers will likely get many offensive coordinator candidates who want to work with Mayfield and those weapons at the skill spots. However, there’s one candidate that Mayfield is familiar with and could help continue his development.

Browns News: Former OC to Interview With Tampa Bay

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday morning that former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is heading to Tampa today to interview for the Buccaneers offensive coordinator job. Rapoport adds that Van Pelt is also in play for the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator role.

Van Pelt was surprisingly fired, along with other offensive coaches, after the Browns’ 45-15 road playoff loss to the Houston Texans.

The 53-year-old Van Pelt was the offensive coordinator in Cleveland from 2020-23, the same time Mayfield was the starting quarterback for the Browns. 

Over three years (2019-21), Mayfield completed 60.8% of his passes for 10,400 yards, 65 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. 

The former No. 1 overall pick’s best season with Van Pelt happened in 2020 when Mayfield completed 62.8% of his passes for 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. It will be interesting to see if Van Pelt lands in Tampa Bay with his old quarterback or if he’ll get one of the few offensive coordinator jobs still left on the open market.

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