Browns: Baker Mayfied and his future won’t be known until season’s end

Fans of the Cleveland Browns keep asking the same questions about Baker Mayfield and his future but they should stop until the season ends.

Let’s be clear about something first and foremost, there has not been one quarterback since Bernie Kozar who gives the Browns as good of a chance to win as Baker Mayfield does. Yet, the only thing people are worried about is what happens next with him. The Browns should be satisfied with Mayfield, they’re 8-3 and he carried the Browns during a stretch when Jarvis Landry and Kareem Hunt were dealing with nagging injuries and Nick Chubb and Odell Beckham were out.

Not only that, but his numbers are very good. He’s got 2,108 yards, 17 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions while completing 61.2% of his throws. Numbers that would be higher if his receiving corp wasn’t constantly depleted, injured, or dropping passes.

Yet, some fans and pundits have bought into a narrative that he isn’t “good”, all that despite the fact he’s leading this team to the playoffs and doing his part. This is where the problem lies. Most people who aren’t buying into Mayfield constantly bring up the idea that Mayfield “can’t beat good teams”. That’s the biggest gripe most fans have. He’s got solid numbers, he’s not turning the ball over, he’s doing everything one can ask him to do, but he lost to Pittsburgh and Baltimore. So just throw him away and start again, right? No.

What does Mayfield have to do to not only earn the remaining fanbase’s respect but also the ownerships?

Keep winning. No one ever lost their job in the NFL by winning. Unless they coached in Detroit that is. If Mayfield can get wins over the Titans and their first-round matchup (currently the Bills), then that will be more than enough to warrant not just a fourth, but a fifth year as well. Yes, he has to play on par with his season averages and can’t hold the team back, but that isn’t likely to happen.

While a lot of people keep talking about how many soup cans the Browns have beaten, what they fail to mention is that teams like the Eagles, Bengals, Texans, and Jaguars are squads that have taken the top teams in the NFL to their limits. They’re not the Browns circa 2017. No, that would be the Jets.

So when people about “should the Browns keep Mayfield” there’s really no clear answer to that right now. Asking that question now is like asking a chef if the steak he’s currently grilling tastes good. He wouldn’t know that, and we don’t know that about Mayfield. Mayfield could wet the bed down the road, and the team could fail to make the playoffs.

Mayfield could lead the team to several major upsets.

It’s impossible to answer the question pertaining to Mayfield’s future with the Browns because the story isn’t done being written yet. So we have to be patient and let things develop. Then, when the season is over, and only then, will we know if Mayfield is the quarterback of the future.