Colin Cowherd compared Baker Mayfield to Patrick Mahomes in the worst possible way

Among the many storylines heading into Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp, the biggest and most interesting stuff surrounds Baker Mayfield.

The dude is a lightning rod, plain and simple. He’s been devisive his entire career, from planting flags and grabbing himself at Oklahoma, to everything that’s happened during his time in the NFL so far; Baker is truly a love him or hate him guy.

To be fair to the critics, he’s made it a lot easier to do the latter.

Baker’s baggage is what made the Bucs signing him back in March such a bonfire conversation. Twitter comedians all over the internet were throwing in the same exact joke as though they had come up with it independtly, laughing about how the Bucs went from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield.

We’ll have to wait until the season to see who gets the last laugh, but dunking on Baker still seems to be low hanging fruit that folks are grabbing at.

Colin Cowherd takes a shot at Baker Mayfield when talking about Caleb Williams

Cowherd was monologuing about three quarterbacks he knew were better than 75 percent of the NFL in their final year at college: Trevor Lawrence, Andrew Luck, and Patrick Mahomes. It’s not quite the LeBron prediction meme personified by it’s close.

In his reasoning, Cowherd talked about their antics and leadership on the field which prompted a shot at Baker Mayfield.

“They have something that I think is important in that they have this incredible confidence but it’s never narcissism, it’s never conceited, and it’s never arrogance,” Cowherd said. “That was the problem with Baker. They were confident but it became conceit or arrogant or maybe both, and it I was obnoxious at times.”

Cowherd didn’t single out Baker, rather the ‘they’ he’s referring to in that quote is also Johnny Manziel and Cam Newton. It’s not exactly the group you want to be in, although Newton continues to get a bad rap despite being an MVP and leading his team to the Super Bowl.

If Baker can manage that this season, a little arrogance and conceit can be dealt with.

However, Baker signing with the Buccaneers might have been the surest sign of maturity we’ve seen in his career to this point.

Think about how the Bucs are talked about and viewed in the national media. Baker was getting looks from AFC contenders and other teams, including for more money, but opted to sign with the Buccaneers. To quote Brian Windhorst, “Now, why is that?”

Folks who have spent time with the Bucs this offseason are coming away singing a very different tune about Baker. Former NFL GM Rick Spielman raved about Baker after visiting Bucs minicamp, noting that he came to Tampa Bay not as a mercenary but with the hopes of re-establishing his career there over the long term future. Baker himself has sounded like a different guy since arriving at Bucs camp, saying things like he’s re-discovering a love for football.

That doesn’t sound like the Baker that Cowherd used as canon fodder to make a point.

Baker has a past, but it’s not one that has to define him. He still has to prove himself, but all signs continue to point toward a different version of the guy we’ve seen the last few seasons — and perhaps the best version of him yet.