CLEVELAND -- There are house cleanings, and then, there is what the Cleveland Browns did to the quarterback room in the offseason.
After finishing the 2017 season with just the second 0-16 record in National Football League history, the Browns underwent a complete overhaul of the quarterback room as they traded away DeShone Kizer (Green Bay Packers), Cody Kessler (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Kevin Hogan (Washington), acquired Tyrod Taylor from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and selected former Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield No. 1 overall.
Also, the Browns signed Drew Stanton in free agency.
And while Taylor has fielded plenty of questions about Mayfield since the 2018 NFL Draft, he has not shied away from leading in whatever way he can.
“You have guys who are not real interested in helping other guys through the years, and you have guys who are interested in helping,” Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley said after the offseason program was completed. “He is interested in this team being as good as it possibly can be.
“He obviously wants to be the quarterback, and he is working his butt off to do that from an on-the-field standpoint, but off of the field, he is a great character guy really. I knew him just from watching him on tape and evaluating him that way, but you really do not get to know the ins and outs of a guy. This guy is a unique teammate, and one that I am very excited about.”
PHOTOS: Tyrod Taylor confident Cleveland Browns have talent to win
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
One
During his seven-year career with the Baltimore Ravens and Bills, Taylor completed 793 of his 1,271 attempts (62.4 percent) for 9,056 yards and 51 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. Of those 793 completions, 116 went for at least 20 yards and 22 more were 40-yard gains.
In his three seasons with the Bills, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Taylor completed 774 passes for 8,837 yards and 51 touchdowns against 16 interceptions.
Taylor is well aware of the Browns’ history of struggles since returning to the NFL in 1999, and also, how to turn around the fortunes of a franchise.
After helping break the Bills’ NFL-worst 17-year postseason drought in 2017, Taylor was traded to the Browns, who coincidently took over for his former team as the organization with the longest streak of seasons without a playoff appearance. And once again, Taylor is looking to be a catalyst for change.
“I walked into a similar situation in Buffalo where it was 17 years that we had not been to the playoffs and was able to help lead that group of players and that team to somewhere that city has not seen in a while,” Taylor said in his introductory press conference back in March.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Mayfield
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Mayfield put together a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 2017 where he completed 285 of his 404 throws (70.5 percent) for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns against just six interceptions to cap off a four-year career that started at Texas Tech University.
PHOTOS: Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield embraces lessons from Tyrod Taylor, Drew Stanton
During his three years at Oklahoma and one season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Mayfield completed 1,026 of his 1,497 attempts (68.5 percent) for 14,607 yards and 131 touchdowns against only 30 interceptions.
“It’s definitely had more of a learning curve,” Mayfield said of the NFL game. “There’s been some bumps in the road, which was expected, but right now, I’m just trying to find a consistency, so I wouldn’t say there is a huge surprise. It’s just trying to get more consistent.”
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