Back in April, the Cleveland Browns took Baker Mayfield as the first overall pick of the 2018 draft.The quarterback, coming out of Oklahoma, will begin his NFL career next month - and Cleveland fans will be hoping he can bring some much-needed success. 

A STRUGGLING FRANCHISE 

In 2017, the Browns finished with a record of 0-16 - becoming only the second team in history to do so. 

Incredibly, they failed to improve on their 1-15 finish the season before, but really, the Browns have been struggling for quite a while longer. 

The franchise hasn't posted a winning season since 2007 - which frankly, is ridiculous. 

Much of their failure comes down to the fact that they haven't been able to settle a good quarterback for a very long time. 

In 2018, the Browns will be hoping that's going to change. 

TRUST IN BAKER

Cleveland made their intentions clear when they drafted Mayfield as the first overall pick a few months ago. 

They took him over fellow prospects Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen - and don't appear to be regretting that decision at all.

That's because one day before the start of training camp, Cleveland have offered their guy a huge contract - and he's accepted it too. 

MAYFIELD GETS PAID

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the team have given Mayfield a four-year deal, with $32.68 million fully guaranteed and a $21.85 million signing bonus. 

Damn. That is huge. Especially for a quarterback that hasn't even played a single snap in the NFL yet. 

But after putting pen to paper, Baker will be hoping to instantly prove that he's worth every penny of that deal. 

To be fair, his final season in college football would suggest that he is.

Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 after throwing for 4,340 yards, 41 touchdowns and just five interceptions for the Sooners.

2018 PREPARATION

He'll be hoping to bring that form to the NFL - but interestingly, won't be Cleveland's starting QB in pre-season. 

Instead, the Browns announced, rather strangely, that they have given Tyrod Taylor first-string duties for the time being.  

However, if history is anything to go by, Mayfield will not be playing backup for too long. 

17 of the last 20 first-round pick quarterbacks have taken over as starters for their respective teams before the conclusion of their rookie seasons. 

It's more than likely that Mayfield will do something similar - but perhaps a team like Cleveland should just throw him into the deep end from day one.

After all, what have they got to lose? It's not like next season can go any worse than 2017 - so why not give Mayfield the starting role straight away? 

That way, he can start to pay back the huge deal he's just signed.