Browns make Mayfield No. 1 draft pick
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cleveland Browns’ long search for a franchise quarterback has led them to Baker Mayfield — the first of four passers to be drafted in the top 10 Thursday night.
The Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, until the last few days considered a longshot to be the top pick, goes from former walk-on to No. 1 overall. Mayfield is the first Heisman recipient taken first in the following draft since Cam Newton went to Carolina in 2010.
Mayfield, who could sit behind newly acquired Tyrod Taylor at the outset of his pro career, joins a team that went 0-16 in 2017. The Browns, who haven’t had a top-flight quarterback since returning to the league in 1999, were sold on his leadership skills and creativity inside the pocket and outside.
“With Baker Mayfield, we have a guy who loves the game of football, who is an ultra-competitor, is revered by his teammates and anybody who has ever been around him,” Browns GM John Dorsey said. “He’s a guy that has earned everything he has ever had since high school to college and now up here. He is a winner, he’s competitive.”
He was not at AT&T Stadium, leaving Commissioner Roger Goodell on stage, but hearing cheers cascade throughout the building after announcing the Browns’ choice. That was in stark contrast to the usual crowd reaction for Goodell.
Even though Cowboys Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman and current