Excuse me, Cleveland? Carolina? Have you noticed Baker Mayfield lately?

TAMPA — One week into the season, and Baker Mayfield leads the NFL in touchdown passes and quarterback rating.

He also leads in payback, comeuppance and middle fingers.

Yes, 2024 has the potential to be Mayfield’s tour of revenge. He’ll likely deflect the praise and tone down the gloating, but this is the week when, as Michael Corleone famously said in “The Godfather,” all family business was settled.

Mayfield took care of Washington on the field on Sunday and, at the same time, gave a metaphorical shiv to the people running the Browns and Panthers.

It was a little more than two years ago that Cleveland discarded Mayfield, who was the No. 1 selection in the 2018 draft, by trading him to Carolina for a fifth-round pick. Months later, the Panthers benched Mayfield twice and then released him.

And where are they all now?

The Browns traded three first-round picks, a third and two fourths to acquire Deshaun Watson and then signed him to the then-richest contract in NFL history with $230 million guaranteed. In the season opener against the Cowboys, Watson took six sacks, threw two interceptions and was 0-for-9 on passes that went 15 yards or more downfield. Oof!

The Panthers used the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft on Bryce Young, who went 2-14 in his first season as an NFL starter. In Sunday’s season opener against New Orleans, Young completed 13-of-30 passes with two interceptions and four sacks. Double oof!

Mayfield, meanwhile, took the Bucs to within one victory of the NFC Championship Game last season and then upped the ante with four touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 146.4 passer rating while crushing the Commanders on Sunday.

“I’m always impressed with his resiliency,” Bucs receiver Chris Godwin said. “I think he proves time and time again that he’s a fighter. He’s a leader.”

No one knows where the story goes from here but, at the very least, Mayfield has refurbished his reputation in the NFL. He’s changed the plot line. Instead of Mayfield failing in Cleveland or Carolina, perhaps it was the Browns and Panthers who failed him.

And if you’ve been around Tampa Bay long enough, you can appreciate being on the other side of a quarterback’s redemption.

Because, you might recall, we used to be the doofuses who gave up too quickly on quarterbacks who were picked near the top of the draft. The Bucs didn’t want to pay Doug Williams and he won a Super Bowl with Washington. The Bucs traded Steve Young and he won a Super Bowl with San Francisco. The Bucs gave up on Trent Dilfer and he won a Super Bowl with Baltimore.

By 2000, only two teams had drafted three different quarterbacks with a Super Bowl win. One was Pittsburgh. The other was Tampa Bay. Except, in Tampa Bay’s case, all three quarterbacks ended up winning the Super Bowl while wearing other jerseys.

So, yeah, the Bucs got a little payback when Brad Johnson, who originally was drafted by Minnesota, led them to a Super Bowl title in 2002. And then Tom Brady came from New England and the Bucs won another Super Bowl in 2020.

Mayfield and the Bucs are a long, long way from Super Bowl 59 (although their odds went from 80-to-1 to 60-to-1 after the season opener, according to BetOnline.ag), but his tale of redemption could become an interesting story line as the NFL season progresses.

“I’m ALL IN on the Baker Mayfield career resurgence,” former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel said on X, formerly Twitter, after Sunday’s game. “He’s balling right now.”

If you paid close attention, this is not a huge shock. In 2020, Mayfield led the Browns to their first playoff victory in more than 25 years. A shoulder injury the following season was the beginning of his downfall in Cleveland and the Carolina tenure was a coaching debacle.

Since he arrived in Cleveland, Mayfield has a higher touchdown percentage than Jared Goff or Derek Carr. He’s averaged more yards per completion than Aaron Rodgers or Dak Prescott. And he’s won more playoff games than Watson or Kirk Cousins.

And now, for the first time in years, he’s got a coaching staff that believes in him and teammates ready to follow him.

“He always wants to win. He never concedes any possession. Those types of things are very infectious for our locker room,” Godwin said. “If you look around, everyone loves Baker. And I think who he is, is very genuine, which is why people love him. I can’t say enough good things about him — happy he’s on our side.”

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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