Below contract now by the 2022 season, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield mentioned Monday that he’s targeted on this season over signing a long-term extension with the workforce.
“The fifth-year possibility simply occurred, so a long-term deal I feel is slightly bit on the again burner for me,” Mayfield mentioned Monday in a name with reporters. “If we win video games, the whole lot will occur the way it ought to. That’s my mentality and I really do imagine that.”
On Friday, the Browns exercised the fifth-year possibility on the previous No. 1 general decide, which pays Mayfield $18.86 million in 2022.
Mayfield is also extension eligible this offseason, coming off a yr during which he quarterbacked the Browns to their first playoff victory in 26 years.
Mayfield mentioned that he has been getting requested concerning the potential extension so much currently, however added that he is not stressing about it.
“It is also a kind of issues the place I belief wholeheartedly within the Mills household, for them to deal with that behind the scenes,” Mayfield mentioned of Jack and Tom Mills, his brokers. “However proper now, it is about establishing the inspiration for this upcoming season and persevering with to construct on what we left with final yr, and proceed to enhance.”
The Browns received 12 video games final season, culminating with a 48-37 victory over the Steelers within the first spherical of the playoffs, snapping Cleveland’s 17-game dropping streak in Pittsburgh. In that win, Mayfield handed for 263 yards and three touchdowns with out an interception.
The Browns convey again each starter off an offense that ranked sixth in effectivity final season. Cleveland additionally will get again three-time Professional Bowl extensive receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 7.
Mayfield really thrived after OBJ’s harm, and from Week 7 to Week 15 he ranked third within the league in QBR, trailing solely Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. Mayfield, nevertheless, mentioned that surge was a results of rising comfy in first-time head coach Kevin Stefanski’s system and never Beckham’s absence. He additionally famous that he cannot wait to include Beckham right into a Browns passing assault that blossomed over the course of final season.
“The place we had been at earlier than his harm occurred — on an underthrown ball by me — we actually did not have a real identification on offense at that time,” Mayfield mentioned. “It took our bye week [in Week 9] proper in the course of the season to actually sit down and do a self-scout for us to develop.
“That is why we had the expansion that we had from the primary half to the second half of the yr. I would not say that it is as a result of we weren’t throwing to him. … So it isn’t about that. The narrative might be what it’s. However we’re wanting ahead to getting again to work collectively.”