The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of intrigue around them going into 2021.
But what about the rest of the AFC North?
While Joe Burrow is a headline item right now, so too is Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Over in Cleveland, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports Mayfield and the Browns have yet to exchange extension offers and contract talks “could stretch into October.”
Mayfield has one year left on his current deal but for obvious reasons, all parties shouldn’t want extension talks to drag on and cause a distraction. That said, the talks are complicated by an extension for Jackson and Josh Allen in Buffalo.
As for Jackson, he’s in a similar boat but with one important wrinkle — he’s actually negotiating his own contract.
In other words, two of the big fish in the AFC North are currently mired in big contract talks with franchise passers. The Bengals should at least take notes, as they hope Burrow will be in a similar spot after a wildly successful few years soon enough.
