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Cleveland Browns Exercise Fifth Year Option on Quarterback Baker Mayfield’s Rookie Contract
Introduction
On Friday, April 23rd, 2021 the Cleveland Browns have announced that they have decided to exercise their fifth – year option on their young and talented quarterback, Baker Mayfield, by picking up his 5th year option of his NFL rookie contract for a total of $18.86 million. This ensures that Mayfield will remain with the Cleveland Browns through the 2022 – 2023 season of the National Football League.
Contract Details
Mayfield signed a 4 – year $32,682,440 rookie deal with the Cleveland Browns back in 2018. This agreement included a signing bonus of $21,849,440. There was a total of $32,682,980 of guaranteed money due at the time of signing this deal. Obviously, there was a 5th year option available to the Cleveland Browns in which they wisely exercised.
Now the Cleveland Browns have an additional season to evaluate Baker in order to decide if he should be their number 1 option at quarterback for the future. Mayfield is now scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2022 – 2023 season of the National Football League. Baker will earn $18.86 million for the upcoming 2021 – 2022 NFL season.
"I hope it is significantly better," the Cleveland Browns head coach, Kevin Stefanski, stated. "He has heard these plays over and over again. We have streamlined concepts, and we have tried to adjust what we do based on his strengths and our players' strengths. I would hope he is much more comfortable from that perspective. That is what time allows you to do -- time together."
Football Background
Baker was born in Austin, Texas, and he attended Lake Travis High School which is located approximately 20 miles west of Austin, TX where he excelled at the sport of football playing the position of quarterback. Mayfield ended up being the starting quarterback for the Lake Travis High School Cavaliers football team. Baker led LTHS to a record of 25 and 2 during two seasons and won the 2011 4A State Championship. Mayfield finished his high school football career with 6,255 passing yards, 67 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions.
Mayfield originally played quarterback for the Texas Tech Red Raiders for the 2013 – 2014 NCAA college football season, but he ultimately transferred to the University of Oklahoma in which he was a childhood fan of. He played quarterback for the Sooners football team from 2015 to 2017 as he had to sit out the 2014 NCAA college football season where he dominated even winning the 2017 NCAA college football Heisman Trophy. He finished his college football career at the University of Oklahoma with 1,026 completions, 14,607 passing yards, 131 touchdowns, 30 interceptions, and 1,083 rushing yards to go along with his 21 rushing touchdowns.
Professional Football Career
The Cleveland Browns decided to take Baker Mayfield with the first overall selection in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Mayfield has played with the Cleveland Browns from 2018 to the present, and Baker has shown signs of greatness at times while he has shown signs of a young struggling quarterback in the National Football League at other times.
Throughout his 3 – year NFL career Mayfield has recorded 11,115 passing yards, 75 passing touchdowns, 43 interceptions, a completion percentage of 61.9 %, a passer rating of 89.1, 437 rushing yards, and 4 rushing touchdowns. His game has room for improvement, but Mayfield is a passionate leader of the Cleveland Browns offense. Baker displayed signs of greatness last season by getting his team to the NFL playoffs as well as by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers who are divisional rivals in the Wild Card round of the 2020 – 2021 NFL postseason.
Baker Mayfield’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, and Awards
- PFWA All – Rookie Team (2018)
- PFWA Rookie of the Year (2018)
- 2 Time Burlsworth Trophy (2015, 2016)
- Heisman Trophy (2017)
- Maxwell Award (2017)
- Walter Camp Award (2017)
- Davey O'Brien Award (2017)
- Associated Press Player of the Year (2017)
- Sugar Bowl MVP (2017)
- 2 Time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year (2015, 2017)
- 2 Time First – Team All – American (2015, 2017)
- 3 Time First – Team All – Big 12 (2015, 2016, 2017)
- Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year (2013)
Odds to Win Super Bowl LVI
According to Intertops sportsbook these are the odds to win Super Bowl LVI as of Friday, April 23rd, 2021. Currently the Cleveland Browns have the 9th highest odds out of the 32 franchises in the National Football League to win the upcoming Super Bowl LVI.
| Team Odds |
|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs +450 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers +700 |
| Green Bay Packers +1000 |
| Buffalo Bills +1100 |
| Los Angeles Rams +1200 |
| San Francisco 49ers +1200 |
| Baltimore Ravens +1600 |
| Indianapolis Colts +2000 |
| Cleveland Browns +2000 |
| New Orleans Saints +2500 |
| Seattle Seahawks +2500 |
| Miami Dolphins +2500 |
| New England Patriots +2800 |
| Los Angeles Chargers +2800 |
| Dallas Cowboys +2800 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers +3300 |
| Tennessee Titans +3300 |
| Arizona Cardinals +3300 |
| Chicago Bears +4000 |
| Minnesota Vikings +5000 |
| Carolina Panthers +5000 |
| Atlanta Falcons +6600 |
| New York Giants +6600 |
| Denver Broncos +6600 |
| Las Vegas Raiders +6600 |
| Washington Football Team +6600 |
| Philadelphia Eagles +8000 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars +10000 |
| Cincinnati Bengals +10000 |
| New York Jets +10000 |
| Houston Texans +15000 |
| Detroit Lions +15000 |
Sources:
“Cleveland Browns exercise Baker Mayfield's fifth-year option”, Jake Trotter, espn.com, April 23, 2021.
“Baker Mayfield”, pro-football-reference.com, April 23, 2021.
“Baker Mayfield”, spotrac.com, April 23, 2021.
“United States, NFL Futures, NFL 2021 / 22 Super Bowl LVI: To Win Outright”, intertops.eu, April 23, 2021.