In trying to determine the Cleveland Browns’ best quarterback of the past 20 years, there are certainly enough eligible players. But when the field is narrowed down based on production, performance and success, the list dwindles considerably.
Since the Browns were reinstated into the NFL in 1999, they have had 42 different starting quarterbacks, which is by far the most in the league in that span. Dating back to the 2006 season, that list shrinks to 34 starters, which is still tops in the league.
With such a wide group to choose from, Pro Football Focus analyst Nathan Jahnke has named the Browns’ best quarterback in the past 20 years, and it is Baker Mayfield.
“The rest of the offense was relatively straightforward to assemble. Baker Mayfield played 3,991 snaps for Cleveland, while no other quarterback topped 1,400, and he also earned the highest PFF grade of any Browns quarterback during the PFF era,” Jahnke wrote.
Mayfield emerged from a list of starters that includes Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Brandon Weeden, Thaddeus Lewis, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw, Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Robert Griffin III, Cody Kessler, DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan, Tyrod Taylor, Case Keenum, Nick Mullens, Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jameis Winston, Bailey Zappe, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Of those, only Anderson in 2008 ever made the Pro Bowl, until Sanders did so as an alternate last season.
That is why Mayfield had a clear path to this dubious honor, despite playing just four seasons with the team. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, he was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2022 after the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson.
In those four seasons, Mayfield completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 14,125 yards with 92 touchdowns and 56 interceptions. He helped the Browns reach the playoffs in 2020, which was their first appearance since 2002. After landing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mayfield has made the Pro Bowl in two of the past three seasons.
It is hard to say who the top challenger to Mayfield would have been in this exercise for the Browns, so hopefully, the next time it is done, someone will be able to overtake him.
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