Baker Mayfield "Everybody is hungry for more" | Cleveland Browns

yeah hey baker how you doing um your uh reaction to the fifth year option being picked up a few days ago with the team and then what would it mean to you especially given the trajectory of the franchise right now if you were able to come to terms on an extension this offseason that would put you under contract in cleveland long term yeah first and foremost you know that was that's one of those things that's uh not in my control but i'm truly thankful and grateful for them taking the chance andrew and the haslam family for picking up that fifth year option and you know making it one more year in cleveland and um you know extending this this journey that we started three years ago today um just saw something on that so i've been kind of thinking about that all day so i'm very happy about that and then you know in terms of uh long-term deals or all that i'm taking it one day at a time still got two years two seasons left on this uh you know this full rookie contract now to uh see what happens you said you've been thinking about the fifth year extension you're here lately have you thought about a long-term extension is it something you try not to think about too much or is it kind of unavoidable i mean i get asked about it a lot but it's it's also one of those things that i trust wholeheartedly in the mills family my agents and uh for them to handle that behind the scenes but right now it's it's about you know setting up the foundation for this upcoming season and continuing to uh build on what we left with last year and continue to improve thank you jake nate ulrich's next hey baker good to see you just to kind of uh you know button that up a little bit um i know you say you're taking it one day at a time but would you prefer to get something done this off season or would you be okay waiting even if you know like other guys in your draft class like lamar and josh get theirs done no i mean i i hope the best for them you know whatever happens happens but it really is out of my control at this point um you know the fifth year option just happened so uh a long-term deal i think is a little bit on the back burner for me i'm not worried about it i want to go out and win games and i think everything happens for a reason so we'll see what happens thank you nate mary kay cabot you're up yeah baker with uh the off season program and you guys deciding to go virtual can you just talk a little bit about tell us how you are preparing for the season what are your plans in terms of getting together with teammates or not and how is all that going for you yeah i mean we all kind of came together and decided uh you know opting out and doing all virtual off-season and uh just knowing that you know safety precautions but also what we were able to accomplish um from all across the country last year installing a whole new system uh for for everybody and uh so i'd we'll see what happens yeah we will eventually get together and and work on those things but um just working out i know everybody's at a different pace in their offseason schedule right now but it's been good to get on these virtual meetings and start to see these guys nice again and talk ball with them were you planning on doing uh you know hosting guys again in austin and do you have to kind of put that on the back burner for now too a little bit yeah i think everybody's kind of on different schedules when it comes in terms of vaccinations and everybody's personal opinions and i don't think there's anything wrong with that so yeah we will eventually uh get together there's no doubt about that we're going to try and do everything that we can and do it as safely as possible but we know we have to you know put the work in right now to start fast and uh hit the ground running and come fall thank you thank you mary kate daryl ryder go ahead hey baker good to see you not to belabor this uh you know fifth year option and contract extension thing but just from your perspective are you ready to deal with all the conversation that's gonna come in these next two years of about your long-term contract situation how do you plan to handle that we win games everything will happen how it should uh you know that's my mentality and um i truly do believe that and you you mentioned you're kind of feeling nostalgic about the browns drafting you number one overall in that and going back to the combine when you said you were the guy to turn this thing around in cleveland and that's why they should draft you so um at the end of the season you you didn't want to really reflect too much on the year because obviously the loss was still uh you know fresh on your mind but now that some time has passed have you been able to kind of reflect and appreciate your three years with the browns and and just how instrumental you've been in turning the franchise around and achieving that goal and now trying to keep that momentum going forward yeah i mean it's it's been uh you know obviously an exciting the past week or so seven days um you know obviously denzel being picked right after me and uh getting his fifth year option picked up as well and just that that foundation and that you know that work we had to put in obviously it had a lot of help along the way it's been a roller coaster of the past three years and i think that time that everybody in that building i mean a lot of new faces but i think the time we put in for um not just things on the field but culture wise and setting a standard is finally you know coming in fruition to where um you can you can start to see it the bigger picture play out and that's why i'm excited about you know the uh the guys we have coming back this is the first time ever in my career that you have uh 11 guys that at one point started on this offense all coming back so i think that's truly pretty special but um yeah i think when it comes into term of looking back three years ago to this day uh a life-changing moment for me my family friends and uh being surrounded by a lot of teammates and lifelong friends now i think it's been um been a good journey but it's it's nowhere close to being done and i think that's the best part thank you daryl scott patrick go to you hey baker i know you reached out to a lot of the free agents that signed um but what was your reaction to kind of the hall that andrew barry was able to do on defense i've been extremely impressed uh you know with the pieces that we're bringing in and reaching out to these guys to you know welcome them in with open arms and uh to know that they're coming into a place that wants to win uh that you know it's in inviting the guys who want to contribute and obviously are key essential pieces uh and will help us out uh a ton so i'm looking forward to it obviously they've done a great job and uh an exciting week for us as well it's it's draft week but um you know as for the guys that are already on the team we're doing these meetings you know everybody's working out and doing these things so it's it's got a good feeling to it but you know it's it's april for a reason so that we're setting the expectations ourselves everybody can you know talk on the outside but i'm excited about you know the people we've brought in just culture wise thanks thank you scott tom withers we'll have our next question thanks rob hey baker we've covered most of the hard news i got to ask you did you believe in ufos before the off season i'm a firm believer in ufos and sasquatch so it's real i saw it i'm glad the navy finally confirmed some uh some more pictures uh now everybody doesn't think i'm as crazy um i believe what was that like i mean can you take us through just said i know you and you said you and your wife were just kind of walking home from a restaurant or something take us through what happened yeah we were we were driving home from dinner um i don't remember what day it was but just driving home and had the music going um and it was one of those things she was looking down on her phone riding a passenger seat and uh night time so when you're looking at your phone screen it's everything's dark around you can only see that light but it was bright enough to where it caught her attention to we kind of just looked at each other and did you just see that yeah oh other people in that area confirm too so thank you thank you tom fred greatham you're up hey baker um how big is it for you to have come back for the first time with the browns with the same coach the same coordinator the same system and even the same players you know how how much can that help you build off of last year you know when it comes in terms of looking at teams that have been successful you know not just teams any business model any organization when it comes to continuity and everybody being on the same page and having the same goals that's that's so important uh so for me going into it you know this is the first time since heaven coach stoops from 2015 to 2016 as the same head coach it's the first time it's happened for me and i'm obviously looking forward to it you know to continuing to build on what we had started last year and like i said it's it's nowhere near from being over and we weren't when satisfied when it came to just making it into the playoffs winning one game and then losing in the next round so i i think that's the great part about what we have coming back is everybody got a little taste of that um new faces and some guys that had made it farther everybody's hungry for more thank you thanks brett jeff chadell you're up hey baker two years ago great things were expected of you guys and we know that didn't go so well it's sort of like the same this year so did you learn anything as a team from 2019 to make sure this won't be a repeat um yeah first i'd say you know just the culture anything related to that our whole team it's nowhere near what it was uh and that's that's a good thing you know we've worked hard on setting a standard and uh you know when it comes to expectations and things that other people on the outside want to portray or predict it is just that it's people on the outside and like i said we'll set our own expectations and it's only april so we have to work for our ultimate goals and continue to uh you know put those pieces in build those blocks for the long-term goal thanks jeff we'll go back to nate ulrich hey baker in in hindsight how big of a factor was the shape you were able to get into last offseason and what you're able to do in year three and kind of what's your plan for that this offseason you guys are you know kind of in this in a similar boat being away from the facility um kevin alex van belt and i were all kind of laughing because i came back in such good shape they said uh i have to surpass that so he said i set the expectations so too high uh no but you know plan on doing the same thing uh still working out the same trainer cj down in austin and you know doing these little things right and but just continuing to uh you know do all the things necessary to take care of my body but then also you know now i'm not just learning from scratch when it comes to this system so really making these next steps and details when it comes to our play schemes and truly having control and grasp of our whole system thank you nate jake trotter go ahead yeah hey baker the uh the numbers show that you've had more consistent success throw into other receivers other than uh or versus odell you know that said you finished last season played a ton of confidence uh odell looks like he's you know close to being healthy again or if not there already this is your third year together do you feel like the conditions are in place for the two of you to really elevate your connection on the field to a level that we have not seen yet absolutely i think you know anytime you're going in from year one to year two in the same system you're gonna make a tremendous jump but i also think um you know where we were at before his injury happened on on you know an underphone ball by me that uh we truly didn't have a true identity on offense at that point and i think you know that took our bye week right in the middle of the season last year to really sit down and do a self scout and for us to grow so i think you know i've talked to odell he's very happy where he's at on the rehab process um you know i'm happy for him he looks good he feels good and uh you know looking forward to you know starting where we should there's this the narrative that you know the offense took off you know as soon as odell got hurt which you guys played a lot better offensively from week seven on you in particular was that more to do with you guys specifically you uh in particular getting more comfortable with a new offense yet again and and gaining more confidence in that and do you feel like you'll be able to incorporate odell into where you you guys left off last year does that make sense yeah absolutely and i i told you guys last year uh you know during the season that when we had that bye week we were able to truly sit down and kind of see what we were doing well what we weren't uh and we were able to grow from there so you know timing wise it was unfortunate um you know when the injury happened but that's that's why you see you know the growth that we had from the first half to the second half of the year i wouldn't say that it's because we're not throwing to him i mean you look at you take one person off you still have 10 other guys that are on the field uh and so it's not about that the narrative can be what it is but we're looking forward to getting back to work together thanks jake mary kay cabot you're up baker with the uh with the nfl draft in cleveland coming up on on thursday i just wanted to first ask you how exciting that is will you be in town for any of the festivities and and how great is this for cleveland i think well first no i will not be there i'll be uh back home watching it from afar but um i i think it's tremendous i think anything around the draft in the amount of people that it brings into the town the city that that's so good for all the businesses that have been hit so hard because of the pandemic so hopefully anybody that has gone through tough times gets a little bit of a break from people coming in to visit from out of town obviously doing it you know safely within the protocols but uh it's it's an exciting thing for cleveland and uh you know the whole setup and the pictures i've seen so far uh it looks amazing and you know i think it's gonna be a special weekend for uh clevelanders and just real quick uh everybody seems to be thinking defense defense uh in the first round for the brown so uh are you in andrew's ear to uh uh to maybe grab another weapon i am not um i let him make those decisions and all uh you know whoever we add on offensively defensively welcome them in with open arms like i said about everybody else that we've added in free agency and uh you know let's set the standard and teach these guys the new system and roll with it thanks thanks mary kay go to tom withers need to make this one our last one for baker thanks rob hey baker you touched on this before you really dedicated yourself to your body and your craft last off season and having the success that came off that did that even motivate you to to work just as hard this off season uh even harder uh you know i think that you know the part about me and my competitiveness you know to never be satisfied um i think that's a huge reason why uh you know i'm here today why you know why i'm at this level of you know playing in the nfl so i think for me it's continuing to to harness that and work even harder because it's not over but i also think you know that everything that i did last off season um kind of carried through a little bit of that throughout the year and then so i'm able to start even more ahead of time i had a schedule this off season so and that's the best thing about it for me i'm not having to to start over completely just continuing to build you

Channel: Cleveland Browns

Views: 28,943

Rating: 4.9761906 out of 5

Keywords: Cleveland Browns, NFL

Id: QJ0wLUBeLIQ

Length: 16min 9sec (969 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 26 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Sportsbob]

Everything Baker said was perfect. He continues to mature before our eyes. I just hope he never gets too corporate because I like it when he's a little cocky and goofy because you can tell he's a good and caring person and nothing he does is truly mean spirited. I believe he's the kind of guy that can grow in wisdom and leadership while retaining his joy and boyish love for the game. I also think he's going to take his performance to another level this year and use the next two seasons to prove his worthiness as the Browns' franchise quarterback. He is on his way to being one of the biggest personalities in the NFL.