Ken Zampese: Browns "mucked it up" with Baker Mayfield

Eight years to the day after Baker Mayfield made his debut for the Browns, he’ll be facing the Browns in his fourth year as the starting quarterback of the Buccaneers.

Buccaneers senior offensive assistant/pass game specialist Ken Zampese was Mayfield’s position coach when he came off the bench to beat the Jets on September 20, 2018. And Zampese had some candid comments on Wednesday about how the Browns blew it with Baker.

“They had the guy,” Zampese said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “They had the guy and they gave him up.”

They gave him up once they decided to make a franchise-altering (in a bad way) trade for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield was later traded to the Panthers.

“The year we were there, we were one of the best offenses in the NFL the second half of that season, 5-3, in a place that was -- before that season started -- 1-31,” Zampese said regarding Mayfield. “The script got flipped and the city came alive because they finally drafted a quarterback that worked out for them and they mucked it up. They mucked it up.”

Zampese was reunited with Mayfield this year, continuing their relationship that went well in the one year when they worked together.

Mayfield, in his third season, led the Browns to a playoff appearance, a win over the Steelers in the wild-card round, and a near-miss against the Chiefs in the divisional round. After an injury-riddled 2021, the Browns made the decision to move on.

Does Zampese think the Browns believe they “mucked it up” with Mayfield?

“I don’t know,” Zampese said. “It doesn’t matter. We got the guy we wanted [in Tampa] and that’s what’s important.”

They’ll have him on Sunday against the Browns. And the Bucs will be hoping to get the win that eluded them in Cincinnati to start the season.