There's the Baker Mayfield we all know and love. (Maybe.)
The new Panthers quarterback is in line for a Week 1 revenge game against his former team, the Browns. Mayfield's fiery and competitive demeanor has been pretty apparent to anyone who's seen him play over the years, so there's no reason to believe that won't translate against Cleveland, despite sharing pleasantries for the team in public since being traded.
According to NFL Network's Cynthia Frelund, Mayfield shared a bit of his signature confidence following Cleveland's preseason matchup vs. the Bills, going as far to say that he's going to "f— up" his former team in Week 1.
Baker Mayfield on playing the #Browns on Week 1: “I’m gonna f**k them up.”
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 30, 2022
Cynthia Frelund reported on the @AroundTheNFL podcast. pic.twitter.com/cT5hObeSEm
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Frelund, though, would later walk back Mayfield's comments just a bit: Rather than Mayfield actually saying he was going to f— up his former team, he actually just reaffirmed her hype words.
Cynthia Frelund clarifies what happened with Baker Mayfield. She told Baker to “go f*** them up,” and he repeated it back to her in agreement. #Browns #Panthers @ultCLEsports pic.twitter.com/A0E3ZsJvet
— Ed Greenberger (@EdGreenberger) August 30, 2022
"I know Baker's spicy, and he's been spicy his whole career dating back to college. I said that, and he just kind of agreed with me. I said, this entire season — so not just the Browns, the entire season — I said, 'Go out there and kick some butt and F them up,' meaning everyone.
"I said, 'Start it off strong Week 1, I can't wait to see you out there Week 1.' It was not that nefarious at all."
According to Mayfield, he never went there either. Speaking after practice on Wednesday, the Panthers passer says he never actually said what Frelund said he said.
Panthers QB Baker Mayfield said he did not say what Bills reporter Cynthia Frelund claims he said pic.twitter.com/hcf5kOnk8a
— Ellis L. Williams (@BookofEllis) August 31, 2022
“I want to win in everything I do. … That is not how I phrased it, that's not even what I said, so I'll leave it at that."
Whether or not those exact words came out of Mayfield's mouth, it's easy for the quarterback to feel that way, considering he was unceremoniously ousted from Cleveland and subsequently replaced by Deshaun Watson, who will serve an 11-game suspension this season.
Mayfield took the Carolina starting job away from fellow 2018 first-round pick Sam Darnold, who is also now sidelined with an injury. Mayfield is entering the final year of his contract, so he's going to have to … mess up several teams this year to get back into the league's good graces and set himself up for another payday.
Well, thus ends a much less interesting F-bomb saga than we've had in recent years.
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