Baker Mayfield‘s agent, Jack Mills, recently predicted that his client and the Browns would agree to terms on a contract extension this summer. But that might be a bit optimistic. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Mayfield’s camp and the Browns have not even exchanged proposals yet, and she suggests that a new deal might not get done until late October.
Why then? Because at the start of the 2020 season, for which there were no spring workouts and no preseason, Mayfield was still getting used to head coach Kevin Stefanski‘s offense. But as Cabot observes, Mayfield was Pro Football Focus’ second-highest-rated QB over the final seven games of the year, and both player and team believe that is more representative of who Mayfield is (even though he did have some quality performances over the first few weeks of the campaign as well). By waiting until the end of October to authorize a massive extension, the Browns will essentially have a full season of data on how Mayfield performs in a quality offense that he completely understands.
The Browns are also working on new contracts for other key members of the roster, like CB Denzel Ward, RB Nick Chubb, and G Wyatt Teller (this is the first we have publicly heard that the club is talking contract with Teller and Ward, though it’s hardly a surprise). The front office might want to get those less costly pacts out of the way before turning its full attention to the Mayfield situation.
And Mayfield, who is perfectly content to bet on himself, also has reason to wait. If draftmates Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson sign extensions with AAVs in excess of $40MM, Cabot says Mayfield will not “settle” for a $35MM AAV, which Spotrac currently considers to be his market value.
At this point, Cleveland and Mayfield have no doubt that a deal will get done. It’s really just a matter of when.
Meh, middle of the road QB with a decent season on his resume. No reason for the Browns to rush towards the inevitable overpay.
Well since he has 2 “decent season”s out of 3 (and broke rookie passing TD records set by Peyton and Russell) so far under 3 head coaches and offensive schemes, and led the browns to their first playoff win since 93, I’d say he’s doin pretty well so far.
Not bad for a “middle of the road QB”
Afsooner,
Football players are remembered for the championships they won, not for records they break! Warren Moon broke records too but you don’t hear much of his name mentioned at all because he has no title under his belt. But, you are a browns fan so you are used to not winning titles so records would be the next best thing for you I guess!
It seems clear from his username that he’s probably just an Oklahoma fan and not a Browns fan.
I’m not comparing Baker to Warren Moon by any stretch so don’t put words in my mouth, but when you’re signing a QB to an extension, you’re not paying them for already winning titles — you’re paying them with the hope that they’ll win you some in the future. If prime Warren Moon was available right now, teams would gladly line up and pay big money for him whether he wins a ring or not. The same goes for Dan Marino or any other Hall of Famer that never won a title, unless you’d rather have Trent Dilfer who had a pretty all around mediocre career other than winning his ring.
Mike,
True and understand that! But, would it have been wise in 2001 when Brady replaced Bledsoe in New England because of an injury to Bledsoe, would have been wise to go back to Bledsoe after he was fully healed because he had better stats than Brady ? Would the Patriots have won as many Super Bowls with Bledsoe at the helm ? Even though they call Brady the GOAT, how come they never really talk about his stats over the years ? All they really talk about is the Super Bowls he has won. If Baker doesn’t win a championship in Cleveland in his next contract, he may jump ship to another team that can win. QB’s want titles not stats!
Last time I checked players got paid for putting up numbers and head coaches got paid for wins. Mayfield is not a middle of the road quarterback.
And his numbers are middle of the road.
Meh, middle of the road QB with a decent season on his resume. No reason for the Browns to rush towards the inevitable overpay.
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Nothing exemplifies this more then this stretch:
Mayfield was Pro Football Focus’ second-highest-rated QB over the final seven games of the year