Baker Mayfield’s Contract Dispute, Patrick Mahomes’s Strategic Move and QB Battles Illuminate NFL Offseason

There was plenty of quarterback-related news from the second-to-last week of the offseason, including updates from three QB battles.

Browns coach Todd Monken initially had hoped to name a starting quarterback before training camp, but he changed his mind, telling reporters this week that he needs more time to decide between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Over in Atlanta, we learned that the quarterback battle between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. hadn’t officially started because Penix hasn’t been cleared to participate in practices fully.

As for the league’s most dramatic quarterback battle, Kyler Murray might have put pressure on Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell to make a decision sooner rather than later after telling reporters that splitting snaps with J.J. McCarthy is hindering his learning curve with his new team.

Speaking of drama, there could be an intense contract standoff brewing between Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. Mayfield told reporters this week that his representatives and the team aren’t close on a new deal and revealed that he plans to stop contract negotiations if there’s no agreement in place when training camp opens next month.

The opposite happened this week for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs after the two sides agreed on the first contract in NFL history to top $500 million in total value.

Let’s assess what all this quarterback news means as we head into the final week of the offseason.

Time for a QB decision in Minnesota?

I’m not sure whether Murray was being strategic with his comments or just honest about the challenges that come from splitting reps with McCarthy.

Regardless of his intentions, Murray’s words might have helped his case to win the QB1 job while putting pressure on O’Connell to make a decision sooner rather than later.

“Having to split reps, me already behind, not getting the amount of reps you would typically want a guy to get learning the offense, that’s probably the toughest part,” Murray told reporters this week.

Those words likely gave O’Connell something to think about because, let’s be real, Murray is likely No. 1 in the pecking order, and it’s not beneficial for the quarterback who will likely be starting to open the season to feel behind. If this quarterback battle is more of a sham and a way to keep McCarthy motivated, then O’Connell should listen to Murray and ensure he’s up to speed by Week 1.

However, if this is a real-deal open competition, then Murray’s words won’t mean much, and it’s probably better for the Vikings to have a heated battle throughout the summer. Murray’s name and what he did early in his career with the Cardinals hold some weight, but he has struggled for a few years now and has played fewer than 12 games in three of the past four seasons. There’s a strong chance McCarthy, the 2024 first-round pick, could be needed at some point in the season, even if he starts on the bench.

Keeping the competition open will push McCarthy to learn from his mistakes and serve as a reminder for Murray that he, too, has plenty to prove to his new team. Here’s hoping O’Connell doesn’t shy away from competition.

Will Shedeur Sanders win the quarterback battle in Cleveland? | Mike Cardew / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Todd Monken struggling to decide between Browns’ QBs

Monken isn’t afraid of competition after telling reporters at minicamp this week that he needs more time to decide between Watson and Sanders.

However, I don’t view this the same as the Vikings’ quarterback competition. With Murray and McCarthy, there’s a chance one of them could be Minnesota’s long-term quarterback, so it’s better to continue the competition to make sure the right signal-caller is chosen. But in the case of the Browns, Watson and Sanders likely won’t convince the team not to explore drafting a quarterback in the first round next year.

It would probably help Monken avoid needless drama if he made a decision now rather than taking this QB battle into training camp. He initially told reporters he would make a decision before camp, but now he says that the competition will likely continue into the summer, perhaps an indication that he didn’t see enough progress from either candidate this offseason.

As for another observation, it seems the Browns stubbornly want some kind of return on the disastrous investment they made in Watson, despite team owner Jimmy Haslam calling the trade for Watson “a big swing and miss” last year.

Watson, who’s in the final year of his fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract, has missed several games since arriving in 2022 and played poorly in the 19 games he has appeared in. Most teams in similar situations don’t have that kind of patience with quarterbacks. The Broncos cut ties with Russell Wilson two seasons after handing him a five-year, $242.6 million contract and giving up multiple first-round picks to acquire him from Seattle. Tagovailoa signed his four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins in 2024, and now he’s with the Falcons, possibly competing for the starting job.

It shouldn’t take Monken this long to decide. The Browns should take a longer look at what they have with Sanders, the popular 2025 fifth-round pick.

Falcons waiting for Michael Penix Jr. before starting QB competition

Speaking about Tagovailoa’s new opportunity, it’s probably not a good sign for him to hear Falcons quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt say that the quarterback battle won’t start until Penix is cleared to practice in full.

It should be an advantage for Tagovailoa to be healthy and fully participate in all of the team’s offseason workouts while Penix rehabs his torn ACL, which he sustained last season. But instead of coaches raving about Tagovailoa’s early results, they might not be keeping an open mind about what this offense could look like with the 2020 first-round pick.

Perhaps Van Pelt just wanted to be respectful of a player the team heavily invested in and doesn’t want to make it sound like the new coaching staff is ready to give up on Penix, the 2024 No. 8 pick. Still, Penix wasn’t drafted by this new regime. Penix struggled in his second season, and Tagovailoa was brought in with the intention of pushing Penix. Somehow, none of that was enough for coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff to open the quarterback competition the moment the offseason program started.

Sounds like Penix is still in the team’s long-term plans and Tagovailoa will only be asked to play if he’s not available. We’ll soon learn whether I’m reading this situation right.

Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers in compelling contract standoff

There is a fascinating contract dispute brewing between Mayfield and the Buccaneers.

On one hand, it’s time for the team to reward Mayfield for outplaying the two bargain deals he’s signed since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2023. On the other hand, Mayfield could be seeking a contract averaging around $50 million annually, a figure that might not be in the team’s best interest.

Mayfield is currently making $33.3 million per year after signing a three-year, $100 million contract extension ahead of the 2024 season. He has certainly earned that money with how well he’s played, but $50 million per year is a steep price, especially when you factor in that he’s not a true superstar QB and hasn’t done enough winning for him to get a contract that compares to the highest-paid players at his position. However, the problem here is that the quarterback market merely rewards above-average play and those next in line for a contract, rather than prioritizing playoff wins and elite production.

In Mayfield’s first two seasons in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers won back-to-back NFC South titles and recorded one playoff win over the Eagles in 2023. Last season, Mayfield’s play declined down the stretch and Tampa Bay missed the postseason with an 8–9 record. But, again, wins don’t really matter for quarterbacks to get paid.

Mayfield should ask for $50 million annually, with Brock Purdy, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, Jared Goff and Dak Prescott making that kind of money. However, it’s probably better for the Buccaneers to let Mayfield walk if that’s the price for him to stick around. And maybe it’s harder for the non-elite quarterbacks to get a substantial raise after Sam Darnold won the Super Bowl, making $33.5 million per year.

This is a tough situation for GM Jason Licht to navigate, and maybe it’s best to let Mayfield prove that he can take the Buccaneers on a deep playoff run in 2026.

Patrick Mahomes’s unique strategy for getting paid

While most quarterbacks benefit from the next-in-line system, that’s not the case with Mahomes, who took a different approach to become the first player in NFL history to land a contract worth half a billion dollars.

Mahomes’s reworked deal has him tied to the Chiefs through the 2033 season and has pushed the total money on his contract to $504.75 million, making him the league’s highest-paid player at $64 million annually starting in ’27.

Initially, it didn’t seem wise for Mahomes to lock himself into a 10-year, $450 million deal with the Chiefs back in 2020. This resembled the lucrative long-term deals that MLB stars usually got with their fully-guaranteed contracts. Mahomes gave himself security for the future in a grueling sport that doesn’t allow players to compete as long compared to other sports. But six years ago, it was obvious that this deal was going to eventually become a bargain for the Chiefs with how much the salary cap was increasing on an annual basis.

Still, that didn’t stop Mahomes from betting on himself and having the confidence that he was still going to be viewed in the same light whenever the time came to ask for a raise. Sure enough, Mahomes is still regarded as the No. 1 quarterback after adding two more Super Bowl rings and another MVP award since signing his first big deal in 2020. With all he has accomplished, all he had to do was kick back and watch the market increase. It was definitely the right time to strike (even after sustaining a serious knee injury last year) and cash in after seeing Prescott become the highest-paid quarterback with the contract he signed in September for $60 million per year.

Now with Mahomes resetting the QB market again, the cycle restarts for Mahomes to watch the other league’s star quarterbacks attempt to top his annual money before possibly jumping the line again in a few years. That’s certainly possible with Mahomes heading into his age-31 season.

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