Ex-Browns coach laments missed Super Bowl opportunity with Baker Mayfield

Gregg Williams served as defensive coordinator and interim head coach with the Cleveland Browns during the 2018 season when quarterback Baker Mayfield was a rookie. 

Williams believes he and Mayfield could've won more than a handful of games with Cleveland had they remained together.

"I’m so happy. I’m so happy," Williams recently said about Mayfield re-signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during his Come Get Some with Gregg Williams and Blake Williams podcast. "[Mayfield] is one of my all-time favorites. I believe in all my heart we could have won a championship had I stayed at Cleveland instead of heading out." 

Mayfield made his NFL regular-season debut in Week 3 of his rookie campaign and started every other contest through Week 17. Williams, meanwhile, took over for the fired Hue Jackson in late October 2018 and accumulated a 5-3 record. He nevertheless lost out on the full-time job when Cleveland's front office instead promoted then-offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens. 

Kitchens lasted just one season in the role, and the Browns replaced Mayfield atop the depth chart when they acquired Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans in March 2022. Mayfield failed to find a long-term home with the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 season, and he signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers last March before he guided Tampa Bay to a division title and a playoff victory. 

Ahead of this year's free-agency period, Mayfield and the Buccaneers agreed to a three-year, $100M deal that reportedly has a maximum value of $115M and $50M guaranteed. While Mayfield and Tampa Bay proved plenty of critics wrong last season, they'll have to do so again later this year now that Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons.

"I am so proud with how he has proven himself time after time after time from high school to college from college to the NFL and now within the NFL," Williams added about Mayfield. "Hey, come get some Bake. I’m very happy for him." 

If the Browns move on from Watson as soon as next winter, ditching Mayfield after just four seasons could go down as one of the ultimate "what if" storylines in Cleveland football history.