It sounds like 2022 will be a prove-it year for Baker Mayfield. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns met with Mayfield’s representatives this week and agreed that the quarterback wouldn’t sign an extension this offseason. However, the Browns reiterated their commitment to Mayfield as their starting QB in 2022.
[RELATED: Browns Plan To Keep Baker Mayfield]
This means Mayfield will play out the 2022 season on his fully guaranteed, $18.8MM salary (via his fifth-year option). The 26-year-old would be a free agent next offseason.
2021 wasn’t a banner year for Mayfield (17 touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions), but he was clearly hampered by his injured shoulder. The former first-overall pick underwent surgery on a torn labrum in January, which will keep him sidelined until May or June. Fortunately, he’s expected to be good to go for training camp, and Mayfield will have an opportunity to prove that he’s truly the team’s QB of their future.
Mayfield and the Browns have had their ups and downs through his four years in Cleveland, and an underwhelming 2021 campaign (couple with a lack of substantial extension talks) have led some to question the Browns commitment to their QB. Despite the rumblings, we learned last month that the Browns will planning to retain Mayfield for the 2022 campaign.
Smart, he’s not great.
Eyes on Russ next offseason
Sorry RW has 2 years on his deal not 1
Finally the Browns make a great decision
Lol.. sad that the laughable browns organization wouldn’t blunder headlong into a crippling top five contract, but as a fan of an AFC team, one can only hope that he plays himself to being the starter on the browns for the next 7 years, at least.
DUH
Mediocre QB but that also means best the Browns have had in 30 years
Browns can win with him if he plays like his rookie year or 2020. Injuries played a factor in his performance. Browns have top 5 defense and a top 3 running game.
huh? 2020, not his rookie year. Not a top 5 defense, (top 15 maybe) I’ll give you that, they do have a good running game.
He set the Rookie record for touchdowns in his rookie year. I’d say that was pretty good since the Browns were 0-16 the year before. He’s been in the league 4 years and his 1st and 3rd were good and his 2nd and 4th weren’t but he was pretty beat up last year. As for the defense, PFF had the defensive backs graded as the highest. They gave up less than 20 points 7 times last year. They got better as the season went on because they had 7 new starters
Well his rookie year he had more time on his hands … now with all the commercials there is less time to focus on football. Priorities right !
You do realize the commercials are shot in the off season?
There are about 10 teams that would take him over their own starting QB, so the Browns could do worse – but he isn’t worth big money.
Exactly and in the same situation the Ravens are in with Lamar
Obv hindsight is 20 20 and who knows if he would have developed the same way but man browns must be regretful for passing on josh Allen. The difference between him and baker is astronomical.
The difference between Baker and Allen isn’t nearly as huge as the difference between Baker and Manziel though. Browns fans need to remember what a disaster the organization was before Mayfield arrived and have some patience.
Worst thing Baker did was try to come back and play on that injured shoulder. He should have ended his season after that week 2 game. Night and day difference in him with that injury. If he can come back 100% and the browns get him some WRs to throw to, he will be fine.
Exactly. Dude played the entire season with a torn labrum. If he had a longer track record, the narrative would shift to what a “warrior”he is for playing hurt…
Excuses
…which are valid. It’s easy to sit on a couch and obey some circular self-fulfilling argument when the reality is that yes, this player was injured and yes, it affected his play, and yes, he and his team were stupid for doing that.
Good move for Baker. Browns org is a train wreck. Guys are trying to get out of there. His best option is to try to be on a different team next year. A better situation could save his career. No, he isn’t a top 5 QB and he never will be. But he’s shown that he is good enough to win, given a good situation. Cleveland is just all drama all the time.
Mayfield takes a lot of flack, but he really is not a bad quarterback. Last season he and the Browns both made an astronomically stupid decision by playing him while he was injured, and they got a predictable result. That was just categorically stupid, and if that shoulder injury affects Mayfield’s future play, the Browns will be looking for another starter soon.
Other than simply disliking Mayfield, there’s not much reason to give up on him as of now. He’s had a couple of good seasons, but last year really hurt his prospects when it comes to contract status. He, like Jackson or Murray, is getting paid for potential right now more than results. I think he has it, but the Browns are going to have to make smarter decisions for him and themselves going forward to protect the one stable quarterback that they may have gotten in a long time.
At the end of the day you can not say Mayfield in the same group as Burrow , Mahomes, Herbert, Jackson and Allen. These are all in the AFC. Baker will never see a Super Bowl in Cleveland , not with 4 games a year against Jackson and Burrow and any playoff run goes through those guys. The bar has risen!
I can say so for Jackson, given that he also had a massively disappointing season last year due to injury and that, like Jackson, Mayfield has a lot of potential that has not fully translated to results on field.
As for the other quarterbacks, yes, Mayfield does pale in comparison. But there are two other relevant factors here, and those are these: those quarterbacks are on better teams with more stability, and also, those are only a handful of quarterbacks out of the totality of the league. I don’t think that Mayfield is especially good, but I do think that he’s decent and is good enough to be a franchise player. Outside of my personal opinion, I know that at least half of the thirty-two teams in the league could use a young quarterback with potential. Mayfield still checks off those two boxes, and has had periods of sustained success in his short time in the league.
Not being Mahomes or Allen or Burrow or Herbert (who very well may have looked like Mayfield or worse had they gone to the wrong team) does not mean Mayfield is useless. The Browns shipping him off would have to hope that whomever they replace him with will be better. I don’t think that there’s a guarantee right now that they will get that person. I honestly am not as big a fan of him personally as others, but he’s still a young homegrown player who has potential and has been a leader on his team. It’s hard to come by those types of players, and the Browns have looking for something resembling that for too long to fall back into instability.
All great points and I don’t disagree … other than I was really referring to the tough path to the Super Bowl really for all of those AFC QBs … that’s going to be a dog fight for years to come. The QB path to the SB is much tougher through the AFC than NFC.
I agree with that.
I guess they’ll need someone to change the security codes to the stadium?
Smart move for the Browns
He’ll get dumped and after Wilson flops in NYJ too, he’ll become their new QB
Sad to see Nick Chubb wasting away in Cleveland.
Was the surgery on his throwing shoulder?