AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

• ESPN’s Field Yates mentions that Bengals’ LS Dan Godsil received a signing bonus of $27,482 on his future/reserve contract with the team.

Browns

• Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com believes the Browns will be getting a bargain with QB Baker Mayfield‘s option, considering the price of other quarterbacks around the league.
• Depending on the salary cap, Mayfield’s option may fall somewhere in the $18-20 million dollar range, in comparison to players like Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes who is making $45 million per year, as well as Saints’ QB Drew Brees, Raiders’ QB Derek Carr, and Buccaneers’ QB Tom Brady, who are all making $25 million per year.
• The Browns may want to hold off on signing Mayfield to an extension, as two cautionary tales currently exist in the form of Rams’ QB Jared Goff and Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz, both of whom signed extensions and are now experiencing issues with their respective franchises.

Steelers

For the Steelers, the signing of former Washington QB Dwayne Haskins to a futures deal carries almost zero risk and a potentially high reward. Pittsburgh owes Haskins almost no guarantees and he’ll have the chance to compete for a role in training camp. But if he can screw his head on straight and mature into an NFL player, the talent that made him a first-round pick could answer a lot of questions the Steelers face regarding the future of their quarterback position. 

“Some of the things that Dwayne struggled with had been well-chronicled. Like, people have a really good idea. It wasn’t just the football part,” Haskins’ personal QB coach Quincy Avery said via the Athletic’s Ben Standig. “In terms of talent, he’s one of the most talented guys I’ve ever been around. I think he’s going to have a tremendous opportunity to improve on the maturity side, both off the field and on the field, and that will allow him to have real growth at the position. … (Dwayne’s) got to start — we’ve got to focus on the basics on a real rudimentary level and then continue to stack on and add development pieces after that. I think that he’s going to be able to do it, because he is that talented, and I hope we’re able to figure out a way in which we can get the task done because there are few people in the world with as many physical gifts and talents as Dwayne.”

• According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, former NFL C Hank Fraley interviewed with Steelers’ HC Mike Tomlin on Thursday to be offensive line coach.
• However, Fraley will stay in Detroit, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. 
• Newly retired TE Vance McDonald said he first began contemplating his decision after the 2019 season when launching a non-profit foundation and elected to return for “one more year” when COVID-19 began. (Brooke Pryor)
• McDonald said he is happy to retire as a member of the Steelers but is aware that there will be “a lot of change” around the organization this offseason: “I know there’s going to be a lot of change with the Steelers this year … that’s a puzzle I don’t want to put together.” (Pryor)
• The Pittsburgh Steelers are hosting former Vikings T Aviante Collins for a visit this week. (Aaron Wilson)