Feb. 23, 2026, 11:59 a.m. ET
While neither quarterback Baker Mayfield nor former head coach Kevin Stefanski is with the Cleveland Browns any longer, they are still making headlines from their time together in Northeast Ohio.
After Stefanski, who was fired by the Browns at the end of the 2025 season, was hired by the Atlanta Falcons, Mayfield took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to let his feelings be known. Now in the same division and igniting a real NFC South rivalry, Mayfield responded to a post by Falcons’ beat writer Orlando Ledbetter, who stated that, “Kevin Stefanski had a dumpster fire at quarterback in Cleveland — Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson failed, which started a chain reaction to 11 other starters.”
Mayfield took exception to this, and responded:
“Failed is quite the reach pal. Still waiting on a text/call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can’t wait to see you twice a year, Coach.”
Stefanski was then asked about these comments, and in typical Stefanski fashion, did not dive too deep into the drama and took the high road. Now, Mayfield seems to be backpedaling from these harsh comments when asked about the relationship between himself and his former head coach:
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“There’s stuff there, but it’s not like it’s beef. We’ve worked together. Anytime you know somebody, you want to beat them, whether it’s a good or bad relationship… Not a revenge game of a sense of Atlanta, but we lost the division for the first time since four or five years, so any divisional game will be a revenge game, I guess.”
This is quite a diplomatic backpedal from a normally outspoken quarterback. It’s rare for him not to stand by his words. Anyway, get the popcorn ready for when these two former Browns go head-to-head in the NFC South.