Cleveland Browns Hall of Shame: Worst breakup and more

After celebrating the Browns by highlighting their players who someday could be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we flip the script to give you Cleveland's Hall of Shame.

Worst breakup: Baker Mayfield

The Browns have whiffed on a lot of quarterbacks in the first round — who can forget Tim Couch, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft? — but Mayfield was a huge success given the team's track record. Mayfield helped teach Cleveland how to win again, delivering the franchise's first win in 635 days and first playoff win since the 1994 season.

However, the franchise tossed him aside during the 2022 offseason by trading for QB Deshaun Watson, who hadn't played since 2020. Last August, the league suspended Watson for 11 games and fined him $5 million for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Mayfield wasn't perfect in Cleveland, but there's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Watson heading into 2023. While still on the team, Mayfield posted a goodbye letter to fans, which received a lot of criticism. In July 2022, he was traded to the Panthers. The journeyman now plays for Tampa Bay.

Worst draft pick: QB Johnny Manziel

There are several options here, but Manziel stands above all the other flops. At Texas A&M, he was one of the more electrifying players in college football history, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2012, but character issues scared several teams away in the 2014 NFL Draft. Manziel fell to Cleveland at pick No. 22, the Browns' second first-round pick. 

Manziel only played two seasons in the NFL, both with the Browns, finishing with a 2-6 record as a starter. He threw for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. 

During his short stint in the league, he was fined for flipping off Washington players during a game and demoted to third string after a video surfaced of him partying during the team's bye week. Cleveland released "Johnny Football" in 2016 as he was under a domestic violence investigation in Dallas. The case was later dismissed.

Worst free-agent signing: QB Jeff Garcia

Yes, another quarterback. The Browns failed repeatedly to find their franchise quarterback, and it was no different with Garcia. Cleveland signed Garcia to a four-year contract in 2004 after he had a couple of strong seasons with the 49ers. 

Garcia missed several games due to injury, and when he did play, he wasn't great. He started 10 games for the Browns, finishing with a 3-7 record, and was released following his first season. To make matters worse, Garcia had a rebirth a couple of seasons later with the Eagles and Buccaneers, which led to the belief that Cleveland was the issue all along.

Worst loss: Week 17 on Dec. 31, 2017

The Browns were not a good football team for some time, but they never had an 0-16 season. However, that changed in 2017. In the final week of the season, Cleveland played at the 13-2 Steelers. With the No. 2 seed locked up, Pittsburgh started QB Landry Jones and other backups.

It didn't matter in a historically bad year for the Browns as they lost 28-24, completing the 0-fer season. The fourth quarter was scoreless, fitting for a Cleveland team that couldn't put away any game in 2017.