Does Baker Mayfield deserve to have a starting job in the NFL?

Baker Mayfield has had a drastic fall from grace in one calendar year. Just a year ago, in early 2021, he led the Cleveland Browns to a playoff victory for the first time in nearly two decades. Now, he is being treated as an outcast.

The Browns are doing their best to find a trade partner, and the quarterback should have been hoping to go somewhere and start. Yet he was passed over for a handful of other options, and nearly every NFL team has a starter in place for 2022. In the case of the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks, they may be looking to make a splash in the NFL Draft.

Cleveland will either have to release Mayfield and eat his $18.8 million salary or take on some money in a trade. Yet wherever he lands, a starting spot is not assured.

Is this an injustice? Does Mayfield deserve to be a starter in the NFL?

The Baker Mayfield situation is a complicated one

Cincinnati Bengals v Cleveland Browns

The question of being "deserving" is a tricky one. What does that mean? One way to attack the question is to ponder if the Browns have been unfair to Mayfield. That seems to be the apparent situation, as he played hurt nearly all season without the team benching him or forcing him to get healthy. All it did was tank his value.

This came a season after he led the Browns to the Divisional Round and nearly took down the Kansas City Chiefs. A quarterback who gets that far is usually in line to start somewhere in the NFL.

With new head coach Kevin Stefanski, the quarterback finally had a sense of stability in place in 2020. That led to an 11-5 record and 26 touchdowns. It was his third system in three years, and Mayfield seemed to adjust.

But the injuries in 2021 changed the trajectory of his career and that of the franchise. The Browns openly slandered his trade value in the media, and now he is without a suitor.

This situation was eerily similar to that of Mitchell Trubisky last season. Both quarterbacks were considered franchise saviors, only to be average and not outstanding. Trubisky spent a season being a backup in Buffalo and is now in line to start for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Was he deserving of a starting job last year?

The reality of the NFL may just be that no one is truly deserving of anything. Instead, timing is critical, and a year out of the spotlight could boost his value for 2023, as it did for Trubisky this season.

A former No. 1 overall pick with a playoff win will always get a second chance. That is true whether people believe he deserves one or not.