There appears to be no love lost between Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield and new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Of course these two worked together on the Cleveland Browns during Mayfield’s final two years in Cleveland in 2020 and 2021 and Stefanski’s first two years as head coach. They found success together in 2020 as the Browns went 11-5, made it two the second round of the postseason and Stefanski won his first NFL Coach Of The Year award.

However, things ended poorly a year later as Stefanski signed off on trading away Mayfield, and while Baker Mayfield was able to revive his career and turn things around eventually there’s certainly a lot of bitterness still prevalent years later with Mayfield on the Bucs and Stefanski as the Falcons coach joining the NFC South.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield Reignites Beef With Kevin Stefanski

Baker Mayfield has often been known to keep a chip on his shoulder. It appears he still harbors a lot of resentment for Stefanski, as he took a shot at him on Tuesday night tweeting out with anger about how he was treated.

It all started with an article from Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter. In a post on X promoting an article he wrote about Stefanski’s time in Cleveland and coming to Atalanta, he said “#Falcons’ 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. QB Shedeur Sanders closed out last season with seven starts.”

Baker Mayfield saw this and took umbrage with how Mayfield was depicted as “failed” in Cleveland. Here was his post:

Even though a couple of seasons have passed and Baker Mayfield has found tons of success with the Bucs, it’s evident he is still unhappy with how he was treated when having to depart from Cleveland.

Mayfield is often very opinionated and isn’t afraid to show it. He will continuously hold a grudge when he has the chance to. He did so this season on two occasions. The first happened after Week 3 when Mayfield called out then the Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who was the interim head coach with the Panthers that forced Mayfield out of Carolina.

He also talked about how there were no “good old days” discussion with Sam Darnold about their time with the Panthers. Although he is still friendly with Darnold, they each don’t have any fondness for the Panthers.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

What is really telling about how angry Mayfield is when it comes to Stefanski is the fact that he’s talking about it on X. Mayfield doesn’t typically post on X outside of any ad sponsorships he’s partnered with or anything about his charity, The Baker And Emily Mayfield Foundation. For Mayfield to legitimately tweet out his frustration directed at a person that he felt wronged him shows how much that he has disdain for Stefanski.

The History Between Mayfield And Stefanski

Mayfield’s departure from Cleveland ended on a sour note after 2021 with them going 8-9 as Mayfield fought through injury. The Browns felt they could upgrade over Mayfield, so they decided to trade him to the Panthers and sign Deshaun Watson to a huge contract despite several off the field issues regarding sexual misconduct during massage sessions when he was with the Texans.

Following a 7-10 record in 2022, they were successful in 2023 as Cleveland went 11-6 while having six different starting quarterbacks due to Watson’s season ending injury, including Joe Flacco starting the last five games and losing in the wild card round. Stefanski won his second Coach Of The Year award, but he has did not return to the postseason again and was fired this offseason.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Baker Mayfield had a different route that started slow but ended great. He was the opening game stater for the Panthers in 2022 but was injured after Week 5. He eventually went 1-5 as a starter for the Panthers and requested his release in December as he was the backup.

His career turnaround began when he signed with the Rams that same season and had a historic first start with them on Thursday night football, as he orchestrated a 98-yard game winning touchdown drive over the Raiders with a 1:45 to go despite being with the Rams for just two days. Mayfield started four games with Los Angeles.

It was that time with the Rams that helped Mayfield land a job with the Bucs. That became the true catapult in his career resurgence. He helped the Bucs make the second round of the postseason in 2023, he signed a three-year deal with Tampa Bay after that and  had a career year in 2024 throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns as the Bucs won the NFC South again. While the 2025 season took a downturn as the Bucs didn’t reach the postseason, Mayfield is without question the franchise quarterback for the Bucs and has a home in Tampa.

NFC South Rivalry Renewed 

The NFC South is the worst division in football, but there’s a lot more attention on them now because of Mayfield’s comments about Stefanski coming out of the blue.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It will be appointment television when they meet twice this season. Every comment made beforehand will be monitored and we’ll see what type of interaction they have “>before or after games.

Buckle up for the 2026 season, because there is some bad blood coming to this matchup.