Cleveland Browns: Josh Allen extension will prove costly

Josh Allen signed an extension with the Buffalo Bills on Friday, and the Cleveland Browns will end up paying because of it

The Cleveland Browns have their quarterback of the future in Baker Mayfield, something that they’ve strived to find for a long time. His play has improved under head coach Kevin Stefanski, and playing in the same system for a second consecutive season should mean his confidence and play take another step forward.

Finding the quarterback of the future, however, means that inevitably, he must be paid. The Buffalo Bills have found their franchise quarterback in Josh Allen, and rewarded him for his improvements by signing him to a six-year extension worth $258 million.

While the Bills are going to be paying the $150 million guaranteed to Allen, the Cleveland Browns are going to be the ones that it costs the most, in terms of their negotiations with Mayfield.

While the starting range for the contract was looking to be somewhere in the range of $40 million to $42 million, it now has likely jumped up to start at the $43 million annual salary that Josh Allen will be making.

The proof is in the trends of quarterback contracts over the last several years. Each year, a quarterback signs a huge contract extension that seems to be outrageous and overpaid. Earlier this offseason, that quarterback of Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, who signed a four year, $160 million extension, netting him an annual salary of $40 million.

That contract then set the floor for Allen, who  has seen more success on the field than Prescott, and used that in his negotiations to secure more money. You better believe that Mayfield and his agent will use those same negotiation strategies to get the starting salary for his new contract to start in the $43 million annual range.

Unfortunately for the Browns, they snoozed, and they better be prepared to lose in this situation. Paying a quarterback earlier is always the smarter choice, especially if you know you want him to stay with the organization for a long time.

Andrew Berry and the Browns better start the negotiations now with Mayfield, or else the process could become a long, drawn out one.

The city of Cleveland deserves to have a good team on the field, and having finally found their quarterback, they can’t afford an ugly contract negotiation to be the reason the band breaks up.