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This past offseason around Cleveland included rumors that the Browns and star quarterback Baker Mayfield were engaged in contract extension talks.
Once fellow 2018 class mate Josh Allen was extended by the Buffalo Bills during the summer, rumors heated up that Mayfield might get his extension done before Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
With a few days to go before said opener, things are not looking too promising on this front.
“Baker Mayfield heads into the opener in Kansas City on Sunday with still no substantive extension talks taking place between his reps and the Browns, sources say, but this has been the plan all along, and both sides are cool with it.”
Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland.com.
The latter part of that report is interesting. One might conclude that Mayfield would like to get an extension done sooner rather than later. After all, he is coming off a 2020 campaign in which the former No. 1 pick led the Browns to their best team-wide performance since Bill Belichick was the head coach back in 1994.
Mayfield, 26, completed 63% of his passes for 3,563 yards with 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. That came on the heels of a 2019 season in which the former Heisman winner tallied just 22 touchdowns against 21 interceptions.
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For the Browns, it might be about seeing whether the 2020 season was a fluke. Do they want to invest a ton of cold hard cash on a quarterback who has been starter-caliber for two of his first three NFL seasons? It’s a big question.
What might a Baker Mayfield contract extension look like
Allen received a whopping six-year, $258 million contract from Buffalo. That comes in at about $43 million annually, making Allen the second highest-paid quarterback in the NFL behind Patrick Mahomes and his 10-year, $450 million deal.
Needless to say, Mayfield can’t be compared to either of those quarterbacks. He’s likely looking at something more in line with the $40 million Dak Prescott is receiving from the Dallas Cowboys on his recently-signed contract.
As for timing, it now seems like Mayfield will not be extended until following the 2021 season. How said contract might look will depend heavily on his performance for a Browns team with clear-cut Super Bowl expectations.