Browns GM Berry 'fully expects' Mayfield to bounce back in 2022

Baker Mayfield is heading into a make-or-break season in 2022 after the Cleveland Browns missed the playoffs and the quarterback endured a significant regression.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry said Tuesday he expects Mayfield, who played through a shoulder injury for most of the campaign, to return to form and re-establish himself as the team's franchise player.

"We fully expect Baker to be our starter and to bounce back," Berry said Tuesday, according to Scott Petrak of BrownsZone. "Generally speaking, we're looking forward to Baker obviously getting healthy in the offseason and then putting (in) good work through the spring and with his coaches for having the type of season that we know he can have."

Mayfield suffered a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in Week 2 and a fracture in the shoulder in Week 6. He underwent surgery last week.

The 26-year-old finished the year with career lows in yards (3,010), passing touchdowns (17), yards per attempt (7.2), and QBR (35.3). He also took the most sacks of his career (43) despite not playing in three games.

Berry was noncommittal when asked if he will consider adding competition for Mayfield.

"We don't ... say we're just going to target certain positions," Berry said. "We scout and look at player availability as if we have an expansion team. So the way we go about adding competition or improving the talent base in the roster is largely independent of who's currently on the team."

Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, will play on the final year of his rookie contract next season.

The quarterback reportedly had issues with head coach Kevin Stefanski's play-calling during the season and wanted him to surrender those duties. However, Mayfield denied the report and is apparently on the same page as Stefanski after they met following the end of the campaign.

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