Baker Mayfield and Josh Johnson Show Opposite Ends of QB Economics

Breaking down two contract situations stemming from different NFL career paths.

Baker Mayfield has had an interesting career, year and week.

Before setting foot in the NFL, Mayfield achieved the amazing accomplishment of going from walk-on at two schools (Texas Tech and Oklahoma) to winning the Heisman Trophy and being the top selection in the NFL draft. That 2018 first round included five quarterbacks with varying degrees of success: from the elite (Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson) to the replaced (Sam Darnold) to the “Is he still in the league?” (Josh Rosen). As for Mayfield, he was a bit of all of the above in the last week, released by one team (where Darnold remains) and playing like an MVP three days later.

Even the Browns, the team that spent that No. 1 pick on Mayfield, did not quite know what to do with him. After taking over the starting job from Tyrod Taylor early in his rookie season, he showed flashes of brilliance, as well as stretches of incompetence, albeit much of it injury-laden. The Browns had two contractual decisions to make on Mayfield, and did so with mixed confidence. Although they did exercise his fifth-year option, guaranteeing him $19 million for 2022 (more on that below), they did not extend his contract beyond that, choosing only to “date” and not marry.

Mayfield earned more money from the Browns this season than the Rams or the Panthers :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

As we now know, of course, the 2022 option year with the Browns never did happen. The relationship with the team soured, and it appeared to be mutual. Mayfield expressed frustration with the team during its successful pursuit of Deshaun Watson rendering Mayfield expendable. The Browns then traded Mayfield to the Panthers, giving up a conditional fifth-round pick. Yet even with that meager compensation, Carolina wanted more out of the trade, getting some major financial concessions from both Mayfield and Cleveland.

Mayfield agreed to reduce his scheduled $19 million option-year salary, which was previously guaranteed, by $3.5 million, accepting overall compensation of $15.5 million for the year. The Browns then agreed to pay Mayfield $10.5 million of that amount in the form of a signing bonus before the trade, as if it were a parting gift for his four years of service. Thus, the Panthers would pay Mayfield a guaranteed salary of $5 million for the 2022 season.

That was then, and this is now.

The Panthers would neither keep Mayfield through 2022 nor pay him the full $5 million. After he was released last week with a remaining financial obligation of roughly $1.35 million, the Rams claimed Mayfield and gave the Panthers an early Christmas gift. The fact that the Rams were the only one of the NFL’s 32 teams willing to take a $1.35 million flyer on a recent top pick in the NFL draft was a stark reminder of how far Mayfield’s star had fallen. And, of course, Mayfield earned that amount and more with his performance last Thursday night.

Thus, the financial spreadsheet for Mayfield’s $15.5 million compensation in 2022 is:

Rams: $1.35 million
Panthers: $3.65 million
Browns: $10.5 million

In a matter of weeks, Mayfield will be a free agent, having completed his four-year rookie contract and one-year option, with career earnings of more than $48 million. With the Rams contractually committed (overcommitted) to Matthew Stafford, Mayfield will be looking for a new team and new contract, preferably one that is not a one-year, prove-it deal. Will he find that team and that contract? The fact that the Rams were the only one to claim him is not a good harbinger, but perhaps last week changed the perception of him.

Watch the Rams on Christmas Day: NFL Tripleheader Schedule.

The problem for Mayfield, and other free-agent quarterbacks, is that not only are there scant few quarterback openings to begin with, there is an attractive group of potential first-round quarterbacks to fill those openings such as Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. Furthermore, Mayfield may join a free-agent class that includes Jimmy Garoppolo and, who knows, perhaps Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and more.

Another potential problem for Mayfield is this one, which may have been an issue in Carolina: Does he have the right temperament to be a backup quarterback? To provide further texture on this issue, we need to look to another signing from last week that received far less attention than Mayfield’s.

Josh Johnson

With “only” $8 million in career earnings, Johnson will never be inaugurated into my Business of Football Hall of Fame; as noted above, Mayfield made more than that this year not to play for the Browns. Johnson, however, is forever going to be a role model for NFL quarterbacks, indeed NFL players, who maximize opportunity for optimal career longevity.

When the 49ers lost Garoppolo to injury for the season, they did not turn to rumored, more well-known names, such as Mayfield. Rather, they turned to a player who had already had three previous stints with the team, in 2012, ’14 and ’20. They turned to a player who has been with 13 NFL teams over 14 NFL seasons which, in itself, is an amazing feat. They turned to Johnson.

I have never met Johnson, but I have heard this statement repeatedly about him: “Coaches love him.” It is clear that Johnson embraces being a backup quarterback, serving the starting quarterback in whatever way possible and being, in essence, a quarterback coach while still being a player.

That brings us to the primary role of a backup quarterback, which is this: serve the starting quarterback. Prepare him, act as a sounding board for him, be there for whatever he needs. Some quarterbacks, and Mayfield may be among them, may not be suited in personality and demeanor for that role, and some quarterbacks accept that role only at the beginning and end of their careers. But for the Johnsons of the world, that role is a career, and a very good one. And a very important one for team chemistry and success.

I was blessed that in my time in Green Bay, I had three backup quarterbacks who all (1) understood their role, (2) accepted it and (3) made the most of it. Matt Hasselbeck (also a former client of mine and close friend), Doug Pederson and Rodgers were in Green Bay—at different stages of their careers, early for Matt and Aaron, late for Doug—for one primary reason: to help make Brett Favre the best he could be. And they were all, in different ways, excellent in that role.

Other players known to be perfect in this role over the years have included names such as Matt Cassel, Chad Henne, Brian Hoyer and, of course, Business of Football Hall of Famer Chase Daniel. They know their roles and do them with grace and excellence.

I understand it could be difficult for players who have either been high draft choices or had success early in their careers to then assume this role. I can imagine it must be difficult for someone such as Mayfield or Darnold or even Mitch Trubisky to serve in that role.

Johnson has excelled in it, and the most money he has made with any of those teams was/is with the 49ers, where his total earnings will be barely $1.7 million. He has made about $1.3 million from the Browns and Buccaneers, about $1 million from the Bengals and Giants, and smaller amounts from the Bills, Colts, Texans, Jets, Broncos, Commanders and Ravens.

There will not be many columns, if any, featuring Johnson as prominently as this. He will likely not play and probably never have moments as backups such as Bailey Zappe and Brock Purdy have had this year. But he will have as long a career as 99.9% of NFL players, playing with more teams than perhaps any NFL player ever. His career longevity deserves accolades.

And the Oscar for best supporting actor goes to Josh Johnson.