CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have picked up fifth-year options on Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward, according to the team.
Browns EVP of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry confirmed the news on a pre-draft conference call with reporters.
"Both of those players have really done a nice job for us over the first three years," Berry said during the call. "We view both of those guys as young players who continue to ascend."
The 2018 first-round picks will be under contract through the 2022 season.
This marks the second-straight year the team has exercised fifth-year options on its previous first-round picks.
Last year, defensive end Myles Garrett and tight end David Njoku had their options exercised.
The move will extend Mayfield’s contract with the Browns through 2022 when he will make $18.6 million.
The No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft took the Browns to their first playoff victory in 26 years.
Mayfield finished last season ranked 10th in QBR, with 26 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions. Mayfield broke an NFL rookie record with 27 touchdown passes.
Ward is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the game. Ward, the No. 4 pick in 2018, has started in all but one of the 37 games in which he appeared. He made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2018 and has racked up seven interceptions over the past three seasons.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
