Is Baker Mayfield a ‘replaceable part’ of Browns offense?

On Tuesday morning, Mike Tannenbaum stated on ‘Get Up’, that Baker Mayfield is “very much a replaceable part” of the Cleveland Browns offense.

The following day, Dan Orlovsky came on ‘Get Up’ and opposed Tannenbaum saying that Mayfield “resurrected the worst franchise in sports in America.” He also provided other reasons to contrast the idea that Mayfield is a ‘replaceable part’ including a comparison to Dan Marino.

Mayfield has always tended to get this kind of reaction out of people. He is a very polarizing figure that people either love to hate or want as their starting quarterback.

Now is also a great time to begin to think about Mayfield’s replaceability since he is up for a contract extension. If he is the ‘replaceable part’ that Tannenbaum claims he is, the Browns should plan on parting ways with Mayfield when his contract expires. But if Mayfield is, as Orlovsky says, not so easily replaced, then the Browns should look to keep him in Cleveland for years to come.

Coming out of the 2018 draft class, Mayfield is perpetually compared to the likes of Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Allen and Jackson are almost sure to see lucrative contract extensions sent to them in the near future to keep them on their current teams. But you have to wonder if the Browns should do the same.

For Cleveland, there’s no time like the present. The team has been irrelevant for countless years leading up to now. Some would attribute this success to the overwhelming amount of talent throughout the roster or the leadership of the coach of the year Kevin Stefanski. But how much of this success can be allocated to Baker Mayfield?

The Browns cannot only look towards past success. They must also keep one eye on the future. Is Baker Mayfield going to give the Browns the opportunity to win the Super Bowl? The answer to that question is a resounding yes!

When looking at this graph where Mayfield is compared to his draft class counterparts, we can see that Mayfield has easily had the best career to date in terms of big-time throw percentage and turnover-worthy play percentage.

When comparing Mayfield to quarterbacks who have won the Super Bowl, we can also see that he is right in the mix with the best. All three of Mayfield’s seasons so far have fallen within the same range where quarterbacks win Super Bowls.

If the Browns want to spend the next decade contending for Super Bowls, they should spend the money to keep Mayfield in town for a while. However, if the Browns deem Mayfield a ‘replaceable part’, they may have a harder time replacing him than anticipated.