Browns' Baker Mayfield surrounded by talent, in 'best position' as new contract looms

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield might be the envy of some who play his position in the NFL.

A 40-year-old retired wide receiver certainly appreciates Mayfield’s situation, even with the uncertainty of a contract extension hanging over his head.

Nate Burleson, who spent 11 years in the league, understands the waiting game Mayfield is playing with his rookie contract expiring after the 2022 season. Mayfield saw the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen sign a six-year, $258 million extension on Aug. 6. Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens is also looking for a new deal.

But Burleson and his fellow CBS Sports analysts believe Mayfield is in the right place at the right time and will get a huge contract if he merely replicates his 2020 performance.  In his third year, Mayfield threw for 26 touchdowns with eight interceptions and posted a career-best rating of 95.9 as the Browns went 11-5 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and won their first postseason game since Jan. 1, 1995.

“I feel like Baker Mayfield more than any other quarterback, not just this year, I would say over the last handful of seasons, he’s in the best position for any quarterback in their contract year,” Burleson said during the NFL on CBS Media Day on Sept. 1.

“There are certain quarterbacks there’s a lot of pressure on. Lamar Jackson, is he a thrower of the ball? You look at some of these young guys who you’re going to start looking at if you’re going to re-up them, they don’t have the same type of pieces around them like Baker Mayfield does.”

A member of “The NFL Today” crew, Burleson was referring to younger quarterbacks who are the faces of their franchises such as Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.

There are several other starters in line with Mayfield to become free agents in 2023, including Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams), Derek Carr (Las Vegas Raiders), Jimmy Garoppolo (San Francisco 49ers), Sam Darnold (Carolina Panthers) and Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings). In the final year of their contracts this season are Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers), Teddy Bridgewater (Denver Broncos) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (Washington Football Team).

With the Browns set to open the season Sunday in Kansas City, Burleson looks at the younger bucks, and perhaps some of the older ones, and doesn’t see a roster loaded with talent like the Browns have put together around Mayfield.

“If I’m a QB, I would love to have Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb,” Burleson said. “I would have to have great tight ends and wide receivers. I would love to have a coach that puts me in a position where I don’t have to throw it 45 times a game.

“If Baker Mayfield does almost exactly what he did last year, he’s going to get re-upped and get paid big time.”

Boomer Esiason of “The NFL Today” said Mayfield was “almost ruined” by former coaches Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens before Kevin Stefanski was hired in 2020.

“Kevin Stefanski came in there and put everything on lockdown and said, ‘We’re going to run the ball first with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and we’re going to build our offensive line. We’re going to take all this pressure off Baker Mayfield and we’re going to become a defensive team, too. We’re going to become one of the more physical teams in football with Myles Garrett,”’ Esiason said. “And that’s exactly what’s happened.

“Now all of a sudden Baker Mayfield’s in the right place at the right time with the right coaching staff and the right dynamics around him. They proved last year they could win without [Odell Beckham Jr.], so I’ve got to believe that Odell Beckham is coming back this year and he’s going to want to make a statement.

"This is a top-five or six team in the league right now on paper and therefore Baker Mayfield has a chance to sign a huge contract extension. He should probably get one, and he should be thankful that Kevin Stefanski came there and got this thing straightened out.”

Andrew Berry on Mayfield: Contract talks have yet to heat up, but Browns GM envisions 'another fantastic season' for Baker Mayfield

Esiason likes more than the Browns offense.

“They’re loaded on defense, they can pass rush, they’ve got a good secondary and they’ve finally got the right coach doing the right things and getting the best out of their young quarterback,” said Esiason, who played quarterback for 14 seasons with the Bengals, New York Jets and Cardinals.

Mayfield regressed in his second year under the one-and-done Kitchens, throwing 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions as the Browns went 6-10. In 2020, Mayfield threw only one interception in the final nine regular-season games.

“What he did last year I think is what he really is,” said Phil Simms, the former New York Giants quarterback who won two championships and was the 1986 Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. “I think he’s a terrific thrower of the ball, he moves around well, he’s got a great first move out of the pocket, throws extremely well on the run.

“And he has that quality, he’s got a photographic memory from what I understand, and he’s kind of a natural leader. I think players gravitate towards him. He grew up last year. We saw the real talent that he is. I think after this year’s over he’ll get that extension. What it will be, I don’t know. I can’t even fathom the kind of money these quarterbacks are making.”

But Simms sees no rush for the Browns to pay Mayfield.

“I don’t know if he really has to prove anything,” Simms said. “If he has a year somewhat like he did last year ... why give the extension if you don’t have to? I kind of feel that way for the Cleveland Browns.”

Contract extension can wait:'No rush' for Browns to pay Baker Mayfield, ESPN's Dan Orlovsky says

Jim Nantz, the voice of CBS and its top NFL play-by-play announcer, will call the Browns-Chiefs opener with his partner, Tony Romo. Nantz said Mayfield is saying all the right things, like he doesn’t “give a damn” if contract talks spill into this season. But Nantz believes the uncertain situation will be in the back of Mayfield’s mind.

“He’s only human. He’s aware of what Josh just got paid. If he wasn’t worrying about it, he wouldn’t be the player he is,” Nantz said in a Sept. 2 phone interview. “Of course, it’s in his mind. But the question is, does he have the ability to go out and play and not obsess about it, and I think he can. I don’t know him that well.

“When you’re going off your rookie contract and about to go into a contract situation that sets you up and your children and your children’s children, you can’t just walk around and say, ‘Uh.’ You can tell people you’re not thinking about it, but that’s not realistic. How could anybody not have some thought of it in his mind? That’s not a negative, that’s not knocking him.”

Nantz said he and Romo were calling the Cowboys-Giants game Oct. 11 in Dallas when Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle. Prescott was also awaiting an extension and Nantz said he heard people talking afterward, “He’s never going to get what he had coming to him.’”

“Guess what? He did, and then some,” Nantz said of Prescott, who signed a four-year, $160 million extension in March.

“[Mayfield is] going to get money, he’s going to get a lot of money. It’s going to work itself out,” Nantz said. “Baker is going to have a long, successful career. I expect he’ll be the Browns quarterback 10 years from now.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/browns. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.