GM Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski continue to laud QB Baker Mayfield. But so far, no contract extension. (Cleveland Browns)
Browns GM Andrew Berry declines to explain team’s hesitation in extending Baker Mayfield’s contract
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Day 3 of Browns training camp …
Careful as always, Browns GM Andrew Berry shed little light Friday on what’s the holdup with a contract extension for quarterback Baker Mayfield.
He didn’t rule anything out, including negotiating into the season. But Berry was steadfast in saying it’s not appropriate for him to discuss contracts and personal situations in the media.
The uniqueness of Mayfield’s situation is that Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who were taken in the same 2018 draft as Mayfield, are also up for contract extensions. The feeling in the industry is that none of the players involved wants to be the first to sign because the next contracts likely would top the first to come to an agreement.
But in June, Jack Mills, one of Mayfield’s agents, told TheLandOnDemand that he was OK with going first, but it’s up to the Browns to initiate things. And as of last week, that still hadn’t happened.
The Browns could be having an internal debate between the analytics and football departments over the timing and value of a new contract for Mayfield.
On the football end, it continues to sound like the Browns are “all in” on Mayfield.
Berry said, “In regards to Baker, a good player, an even better person. Can’t have enough people in our locker room who embody those two characteristics on our team.”
Berry also said he felt Mayfield was “in a great spot” as he enters the second year of coach Kevin Stefanski’s system with his offensive team intact.
“Baker has entered with a phenomenal mindset and a ton of comfort,” Berry said. “I know we are all very excited for him to have a bit of stability because it is probably like all of us in our jobs, right? Where if you are doing something repetitively or you have a little bit of a foundation from prior experience, it just makes you that much more comfortable, and that is something that we certainly noticed.”
Asked if he felt the front office needed to see Mayfield complete his second season with Stefanski before making an extension offer, he said, “We feel really good with Baker’s progress. He has made a ton of growth both on and off the field. We are looking forward to him having another impressive season.”
It’s quite possible the Browns, and the NFL, are waiting on more clarity about future salary cap estimates for the 2022 season and beyond.
Mayfield is under contract for $920,000 in 2021. His salary zooms to a fully guaranteed $18.858 million in 2022 after the Browns picked up his fifth-year option in May. A contract extension would tack on after that, but the signing bonus would be pro-rated over his existing years, which would lower his salary cap numbers over the length of the deal.
Berry agreed that the pandemic has played havoc with the league salary cap and made long-range cap planning more challenging.
“I would say over the past 18 months, it has definitely played a factor into our planning,” he said. “The reality of it is the cap went down almost $18 million this past year. Even moving forward, it is probably going to be 30 million dollars less than everybody projected about a year and a half ago. That does create some changes in terms of how you think about longer-term roster planning, but none of those challenges are insurmountable.”
Complicating Berry’s task is expiring contracts for running back Nick Chubb, guard Wyatt Teller and safety Ronnie Harrison after this year, and cornerback Denzel Ward after 2022, like Mayfield.
“Those are always good problems to have as a GM,” Berry said. “It certainly does create challenges at certain points in the year, but that is part of the job.”
Pumping up
Cornerback Denzel Ward is among several players who added weight in the offseason with the new 17-game schedule in mind. Ward said he added nine pounds of muscle mass and now is playing at 190 pounds.
“He really is in a good spot physically,” said Stefanski. “Over the course of 17 games, you always have to think about how you are physically, so I know that weight is a number but it is really about lean muscle mass, it is how he is eating, all those type of things. He takes it very seriously. I was proud of how he came in this season.”
No worries on Parkey
Kicker Cody Parkey’s 1-for-5 conversion rate on Tuesday’s first day of field-goal competition with Chase McLaughlin (5-for-5) did not set off alarms in the team’s football department.
“It is Day 1, and there are going to be many, many opportunities over the course of time,” Stefanski said. “Sometimes you are off and then you get an opportunity a couple of days coming up. I would not look too much into it.”
Berry said, “I am not overly concerned with Cody. He has a long track record through two stints here of doing a nice job in situations that matter. He missed a couple of kicks – we all have off days – but I do not think we need to over-evaluate.”
Brownie bits
Berry added former Lions GM Bob Quinn as a senior consultant. Quinn joins Ryan Grigson, former Colts GM, in the same capacity. “The former general manager’s perspective is one that I very much value,” Berry said. “The reality of it is, yes, I have been a year on the job, but there are still some things that are new situations or things that are going to be new to me in the next few years. To have someone and to have multiple people now who can provide a little bit of a road map in that regard proves to be incredibly valuable.” ...
Berry said that 90 percent of the Browns are fully vaccinated or “finishing out the last phases of the process” …
Rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was placed on the Covid-reserve list on July 25, should be eligible to come back on Tuesday, if all goes right. “It is less than ideal for really any player to miss the beginning of camp, but … particularly a first-year player,” Berry said. “It is a little bit of adversity, but it is also not a death sentence.” …
Players and Stefanski were pumped to have fans in attendance for the first time in two years. Fans were prohibited at last year’s training camp because of the pandemic. “I know last year’s training camp felt more like practice instead of training camp,” guard Joel Bitonio said. “We just didn’t have the same atmosphere. Training camp, it’s the fans, the theatrics, that kind of go with it.” …
Defensive end Takk McKinley and safety Ronnie Harrison each left practice early with a trainer by his side …
Wide receiver Derrick Willies, who had knee surgery in the offseason, was placed on reserve/retired.
