Browns: Baker Mayfield isn’t worried about his contract, just wins

Baker Mayfield is more worried about winning games for the Browns.

The Browns finally have a franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield. He’s had three of the best seasons a quarterback has ever had in a Browns uniform, dating back over 40 years to Brian Sipe’s heyday. That said, with quarterbacks getting $30 and $40 million dollars a year deals in this day and age, committing to a quarterback has never been more worrisome.

Football team execs everywhere are having a hard time justifying the truly greatest quarterbacks that type of money, as it eats up nearly 20% of the cap for just one player. In a sport where cap flexibility and retaining talent is the key to success, that type of salary hit is massive. So teams are being very careful about committing that type of money to a player.

It’s why borderline-good quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota and Sam Darnold didn’t get second contracts on their teams, why Carson Wentz was shipped to the Colts, and why the Rams and Lions swapped their “franchise stars”. So committing that type of money to Mayfield, even after two great and one mediocre year, is concerning.

So year four for Mayfield is going to be massive. Mayfield knows this but believes that winning games is the most important thing and after that, everything will fall into place.

Baker Mayfield is looking at a major year in 2021.

Mayfield needs a big year in 2021 and he knows it. He’s on the cusp, that’s for sure. If it wasn’t for a few really bad weather games, he would’ve hit all the markers of an elite quarterback, but that didn’t happen. It also didn’t help that he was learning a new system, in a run-first offense, with his best wide receivers recovering from off-season surgeries or a raging pandemic that was constantly causing his best teammates to miss games from time to time.

While some of that, the injuries and the pandemic, will still be waging in 2021, Mayfield will have to continue to show improvement. We’re talking 65% completion rate, 30+ touchdowns, with another 10 or fewer interceptions, and at least 3,500 yards, depending on how things shape out with the rushing game.

If he doesn’t hit those markers, that doesn’t mean the Browns should move on from him, the team has proven they can win with him at the helm but does mean he shouldn’t be getting paid $30 or $40 million a year.

It’s up to him to step up and prove he’s a true top-10 quarterback, and that 2020 wasn’t a fluke.