Mid-week thoughts

At the risk of probably having to plead guilty of being repetitious, one more visit to the possibility of the Browns seriously thinking about life without quarterback Baker Mayfield down the road.

Ordinarily, the thought of this revisit resided more in the future, much closer to next season. But pundits around the National Football League landscape are beginning to sniff around that very possibility.

So . . .  once more with feeling. 

There is a very good chance -- cannot say likely or unlikely just yet --  Mayfield will probably play only one more season after this one with Cleveland and then move on. Unless, that is, there is an astounding change of philosophy by the the denizens of the front office.

The likelihood of General Manager Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski and their minions swerving from their run-the-football-first-to-set-up-the-pass line of thinking, especially after watching it successfully contribute mightily to their 6-3 record, is practically nil.

So where does that leave Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy-winning, gunslinging daredevil drafted No. 1 overall in the college draft and who became the face of the franchise after his exciting rookie season? Right now, he is nothing more than a game manager.

All Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt want Mayfield to do is take care of the football. Don't get  careless with it. Minimize mistakes. In other words, interceptions will be frowned upon.

This is not the same team Mayfield joined in 2018. That team threw the football. A lot. With head coaches like Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens, who lived (not so well, as it turned out), and died (as a result) with the pass. The running game was looked upon, it seemed, as an afterthought.

That is the kind of football team Mayfield was handed by a front office madly in love with the forward pass. Then-GM John Dorsey stunned just about everyone in the NFL when he selected Mayfield, comparing him at the time to Hall of Famer Brett Favre. 

When owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam III mercifully pink-slipped Dorsey and Kitchens immediately after the 2019 season, Mayfield lost his insurance policy. And when Stefanski and Berry, in that order, jumped on board, Mayfield's role was changed.

So why is all this coming up now when the Browns, as well as the NFL, are fighting desperately to complete the 2020 season in spite of a global pandemic? Why the sudden interest in the Browns' future down the line? 

Many players are rewarded with the fifth-year option based on their contributions and value to the team. For example, the Browns have already picked up the fifth-year options on defensive end Myles Garrett and tight end David Njoku. Garrett, who is earning $4.612 million this year, will jump to $15.184 million next season. Njoku, if he is still around, jumps from $1.764 million to $6 million next season.

There are three third-year players this season the club is considering exercising that option -- Mayfield, running back Nick Chubb and cornerback Denzel Ward. Chubb and Ward are virtual slam dunks. Their  contributions warrant that kind of reward.

Mayfield, on the other hand, is no longer the face of the franchise. The offense does not revolve around him anymore. This is a team highly focused on the ground game. If it hums, the Browns win. If it doesn't, how much can the Browns rely on him? He is not a slam dunk.

That is why the Haslams, Berry and Stefanski have got to think long and hard to determine if they want to shell out that kind of dough to a game manager. Or do they move on and seek the franchise's next franchise quarterback in the draft?

We are now in  the stay-tuned phase.