Are We Sleeping On Baker Mayfield?
This week of the NFL off-season has just been nuts! From the Calvin Ridley suspension, the Russell Wilson trade, the Carson Wentz trade, and the Grand Jury not finding enough evidence to criminally charge DeShaun Watson we get another one added to the fold. Now most recently, star wide receiver Amari Cooper has been traded to the Cleveland Browns.
The final terms of the deal were Cooper and a 6th-round pick for a 2022 5th-round pick and a 6th-round pick. As we all see, the Browns got Cooper for a “steal” in many minds. The more I looked into it, the Cowboys got the better end of the deal. The way the contract is set for Amari Cooper is this: $20 Million base salary for 2022, along with a cap hit to the Browns of $20 million in 2023 and 2024.
Click-bait rumors have it now that the Cleveland Browns are throwing their hat in for DeShaun Watson. I’m not believing it for one second. At this point, you can find rumors about Watson being tied to a dozen or so organizations in the NFL. Nothing is official and expectations must be tempered until we know for sure where he’s playing.
Then the next thing I am seeing is Cooper’s value going down with the trade. But is it really?
Fantasy Numbers
Mayfield has been averaging 15 fantasy points per game in his four-year NFL career. (FantasyData)
Every other year since his rookie year, we have seen a good Baker Mayfield and then a mediocre QB2 Baker Mayfield or even worse. If you look more into than just his stats, he also has been through four head coaches, including two in his rookie year. In the last two seasons, he has had some consistency with Kevin Stefanski, who is a run-first kind of coach.
Last season, all we can remember is how after the trade deadline how Odell Beckham Jr. wanted out of Cleveland by being released. He went on to the Los Angeles Rams, scored two fewer total touchdowns than his two-year career with the Browns and Mayfield.
Where am I going with this you’re asking? Let’s take a quick review of the 2021 season.
The 2021 Season
Coming into the 2021 season, the Cleveland Browns were bringing their 2020 11-5 record along with every member of the line back. The injury woes started Week 1 and continued the whole season as the majority of the line was in and out of the lineup all season long, especially All-Pro Jack Cocklin who appeared in a career-low seven games. The line was in shambles causing Mayfield to put the team on his back and get sacked 43 times, which was fourth-most in the league.
The games showed this and Mayfield did what he could. Then he was injured in Week 2 of the season with a left arm injury that was a partially torn labrum. Instead of getting the surgery, he played through it. It just kept getting worse and worse as in Week 6 he dislocated his left shoulder, again and was planning to play through it. This kid is a true warrior, a player who is gambling on himself just to help his team. Furthermore, after missing Week 7, Jay Glazer reported that Mayfield had fractured humerus and would need time to heal. So he’s shut down for the season, right? Wrong. He comes out there in Week 8 looks like a shadow of himself, and continues to underperform.
The Browns should have just shut him down! We all saw it every Sunday. Especially when he was knocked out of the third quarter in Week 10. He’s done, right? Just for the game, he was. I am a huge fan of Mayfield, but man you are playing like a crash test dummy. Every game from then on, you could just tell he was hurting, but he wanted to get the Browns to the playoffs, he wanted to win no matter what the cost was to him.
Thankfully, the Cleveland Browns sat Mayfield in the final week of the season and announced that they will be retaining him for the 2022 season. The injury-riddled campaign for the 26-year old quarterback along with continuing to play contributed to his underwhelming stats with a 60.5% completion rate, 7.2 YPA long with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions over 14 games. It was a disastrous season for the fourth-year quarterback.
2022 And Beyond
Thankfully, he had surgery on his left shoulder and is currently ahead of his rehab schedule. If it was his throwing shoulder, we would be looking at a possible different direction at quarterback for the Browns. So what were the Browns missing in 2021? A true weapon, a true receiver, someone to help Mayfield out.
Here we are, the Browns went all in to give Mayfield one last shot. At the moment, the Browns are -$3 million as they take on Cooper’s contract and are looking to make an extension to currently franchise-tagged David Njoku.
With Cleveland picking up the fifth-year option on Mayfield, he will be making $18.86 million for the 2022 season which is 17th among all starting quarterbacks. This is a prove-it deal for Mayfield because if he performs well, which I think he will, the Browns could either franchise tag him or look to work out an extension with him entering 2023 where the Browns are projected to have over $60 million in cap space.
This is a make-or-break year for the Browns and Mayfield. They are going all-in on Mayfield and so am I. 2021 was an injury-plagued year for the Browns. What he did in his 2018 and 2020 seasons, I see coming back for 2022 and Beyond.
Currently, Baker Mayfield is a mid to low QB2. This is the perfect buy window on him and you should go get him on the cheap while you can because a QB1 for 2022 is what you will be getting in return.
Let us know what you think!
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