Browns: If Baker Mayfield can’t get an extension, who does?

I love Browns fans. Having been one close to four decades, I get it. We’re all chasing the glory days of Otto Graham and Paul Brown and won’t be satisfied util Cleveland gets its respect as the football capital of the world.

There’s only one way that happens these days, and that’s winning the Vince Lombardi trophy–a tall order considering the Browns are one of a handful of teams never to even appear in a Super Bowl.

Some fans and media personalities are questioning the idea of a Baker Mayfield contract extension, which is ludicrous. The train of thought here is this: Finding a quarterback to succeed in Kevin Stefanski’s offensive system shouldn’t be all that hard.

They’ll point to Case Keenum a few years back with the Vikings. Keenum had a career year. Stefanski wasn’t the OC then, but he’s basically running the same scheme. When he was OC, Kirk Cousints threw for 3,603 yards and 26 touchdowns against just six picks.

The answer’s right there. Ask yourself: Who would you rather have right now as your starter, Cousins or Mayfield?

If you have to think about it for more than a second, what have you been watching the past 25 years. Do you think DeShone Kizer would be cruising to victories in a Stefanksi offense. Colt McCoy still plays–want to bring him back?

The Browns finally have a quarterback that produces, and I’m not talking about stats. The analytics types don’t give this statistic its due, but how many quarterbacks since Bernie Kosar have gone into Pittsburgh and beaten the Steelers?

Wining matters. It should, anyway. Wasn’t this franchise 1-31 at one point?

Something else to consider: Baker was a nice blend of analytics and the old school football types when he came out of college. He fits the later because while at Oklahoma, he seemed to have “It.” How else do you explain a walk-on winning the Heisman and becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the entire draft.

Mayfield exhibits a confidence you can’t teach, and if you’re going to be a winner in the NFL, you’ve got to be that way. Look at Tom Brady. the seven-time Super Bowl champ exudes confidence.

Hopefully, and I think they do–the Browns realize this and will get a deal done sooner than later–unless they like paying more money for their players.