The Cleveland Browns don’t have a single 10-year contract player

Patrick Mahomes secured a 10-year contract deal but no Cleveland Browns player right now has shown to be in that class.

Patrick Mahomes broke the internet yesterday when he signed an unheard-of 10-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs. He’ll have near-impossible expectations to live up to now but it is seen as a landmark deal in the NFL. A problem that no Cleveland Browns player, not Baker Mayfield or Myles Garrett will have to deal with.

Why? Because no Browns player has earned that type of contract. That kind of deal that Mahomes signed is a rarity in sports.

Not since Marian Hossa signed a 12-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks has a contract had possible league-wide ramifications. It’s not always good ramifications either. After all, just look how badly it’s been for the Major Leagues.

So no, there isn’t a Cleveland Browns player on the roster who has shown any claim in signing a ten-year deal. There could be one, Mayfield but he’s not proven he’s worthy of that kind of a deal. While some may disagree with this, Mayfield has earned a second contract on this team. Just look at what he’s done compared to the last 21 years worth of Cleveland Browns quarterbacks combined. There’s no need to have a third season to know this. He just hasn’t earned a 10-year second deal.

Maybe there’s a chance that Mayfield could really turn into the elite level quarterback that people think he could become. Maybe he’ll just be a really really good, Joe Flacco-type player. That would be enough for this team after the treasure trove of suck.

Does a Flacco-like player deserve a ten-year deal? No.

Garrett for all of his talents has many flaws. He’s got an injury history, he’s shown to have a temper and he’s becoming more known for missing games than he has for sacks. The extremely streaky player (just four sacks in seven games to close out his 2019 season) is developing the wrong kind of reputation. That doesn’t mean that he can’t change the perception. He could change. He might not miss another game for the next decade. He might post 12+  sacks in eight of his next nine seasons for all we know. Yet today, right now, he has not shown to be reliable enough to warrant giving a 10-year deal to.

One could argue that he’s not even done enough to be the highest-paid player on defense in the league. A different argument for a different day. Certainly, Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham, and Jarvis Landry don’t deserve 10-year deals either. Beckham and Landry just had major surgeries this offseason and Chubb might not be as productive as he is today as he is in five years, let alone ten.

Who else, Jedrick Wills? We don’t even know if he’ll be able to translate to the pros yet. Sorry, no. There is no player on this team that deserves a 10-year contract. Maybe in a year or two, we can reevaluate guys like Mayfield or Garrett but right now, that’s the verdict.