A budding bromance? Baker Mayfield says he and Dolphins’ coach Gase ‘relate a lot’

Brash. Fearless. Driven.

Dare we say even cocky?

Are we describing Baker Mayfield — or Adam Gase?

“It’s not cocky, it’s confident,” Mayfield insisted Friday.

Call it what you like, but there are more than a few similarities between the Heisman Trophy winner and the Dolphins’ head coach.

And — no surprise here — they hit it off when they met.

“Smart guy,” Mayfield said of Gase at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday. “I think we relate a lot, mindset-wise on offense. I think they’ve got the keys on that team. They’re close as well. He’s a smart guy. There’s a reason he’s a head coach.”

Mayfield and Miami have been linked ever since he expressed a desire to play for the Dolphins on social media. (He later said it was overblown and he was just having fun with fellow Sooner Kenny Stills.)

Gase said Wednesday that he wants to draft a quarterback every year, but insisted that Ryan Tannehill is his starter in 2018.

That would make Mayfield a backup — which is not in his DNA.

“Whatever team I go to, I’m not going to settle for a backup job,” Mayfield said. “I’ve never been like that and I never will. I’m going to push that person in front of me and when it comes down to it, the best man is going to win. I know that. Everybody has a role on the team.”

Other Mayfield gems from Friday:

▪ He said he could fix the perpetually broken Browns.

▪ He is “absolutely” the best quarterback in this year’s draft class and the most accurate “by far.”

▪ He’s barely six feet tall, but Mayfield said short quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Drew Brees have proven that height “doesn’t matter. … If you want to say anything else, I’ve got three years of tape you can watch.”

▪ Money quote: “I love the game. I’m very honest. I let them know what I’m about. I think that’s the most important thing. What you see is what you get. I’m brutally honest. Some people don’t like that because it’s rare nowadays. I go into these meetings and I’m just myself. I want to get drafted to a team that knows exactly what they’re getting.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 6:34 PM with the headline "A budding bromance? Baker Mayfield says he and Dolphins’ coach Gase ‘relate a lot’."