Browns appear inclined to play Baker Mayfield next season on fifth-year option

It seems one can barely read or hear anything about the Cleveland Browns during the opening days of their offseason without at least thinking about the club's quarterback situation. 

Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft who dealt with multiple injury setbacks and failed to meet expectations when on the field throughout the 2021 campaign, is set to play on the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract that's worth $18.858 million next season. 

Both head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry said this week they "fully expect" Mayfield to "bounce back" next fall. 

That doesn't, however, mean the Browns will be showing Mayfield the money during the winter or spring months. 

"We have a lot of guys who will have gone into their final [contract] year or something along those lines," Berry said Tuesday about Mayfield potentially playing on the last season of his current deal, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "That is not something that really goes into the calculus for us. Every year, you will have guys on expiring deals." 

Berry added he believes "every year is a prove-it year" for those linked with NFL teams regardless of their contract statuses. 

"To the contract question in general, I think you guys probably know me well enough that I kind of march to the beat of my own drum in terms of whatever contract precedents are out there so we will deal with each situation on an individual basis," Berry explained. 

As John Keim noted for ESPN back in 2017, the Washington Football Team used the franchise tag to retain the rights to quarterback Kirk Cousins for multiple seasons without ever signing him to a long-term contract. Knowing they can do the same if Mayfield does "bounce back" may be enough for Berry and company to keep the signal-caller on what's about to become a one-year agreement until further notice.