Baker Mayfield has earned one other contract from the Bucs. That’s not up for a lot debate. The talk is whether or not Tampa Bay ought to be comfy paying him what Jordan Love, Brock Purdy and Trevor Lawrence are making – round $55 million per season.
Mayfield has gone on file quite a few occasions about how he and his household have set roots within the metropolis and have loved giving again. Whereas that has been effectively documented, Mayfield not too long ago drew nationwide headlines after feedback he made at a youth soccer camp he hosted on the AdventHealth Coaching Heart.
“The contract stuff – it’s happening, it’s starting – talks and whatnot,” Mayfield stated final week. “Not anywhere close to what we were thinking. Would love to be here long term, but as of right now that’s not exactly the case. But I’m under contract for 2026. The guys in that locker room and the staff know that I’m still going to be me. I’m still going to do everything I can to help this team win a Super Bowl. To me, that’s the priority. Everything else will take care of itself.”
With contract talks now underway, consideration has shifted from whether or not Mayfield will stay in Tampa Bay to what his subsequent contract will seem like. That comes with the important thing query – is it within the Bucs’ greatest curiosity to again up the Brinks truck and pay Mayfield what he desires on a brand new contract?
The Actual Query Is Not If The Bucs Pay Baker Mayfield – It Is How A lot
At 31 years outdated, Baker Mayfield is the prime of his NFL profession and initiatives to have one other three to 5 years of high-quality quarterback play left in him, on the very least. His time with the Bucs has been at a discount fee, because the crew signed him to a one-year, prove-it deal in March 2023 earlier than giving him a three-year extension that proved to be a steal at $33.33 million per yr.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and GM Jason Licht – Photograph by: Scott Reynolds/PR
Since that contract, the quarterback market has boomed to the extent that Mayfield will need a deal reflecting his efficiency and what different signal-callers have earned with their groups. Because it stands, what he’s set to make in 2026 places him proper within the center at sixteenth for his place. His agent will certainly convey up what Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, and Brock Purdy are making on offers which were inked since 2024. That vary falls between $53-60 million, and Tampa Bay could be hard-pressed to do significantly better than having No. 6 beneath heart long-term.
Mayfield has outperformed nearly any expectations positioned on him since signing with the Bucs. He has revived his profession from a journeyman again into franchise quarterback territory, incomes two Professional Bowls and preserving the crew aggressive post-Tom Brady. With a crew looking for an identification, the locker room has rallied behind him and his fiery character. In flip, that has saved the fan base engaged and having fun with watching what occurs subsequent, via the nice and the dangerous.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
For these causes, it could be troublesome to justify letting negotiations crumble. At this level, Mayfield’s camp and the entrance workplace have given preliminary numbers and it’s anticipated they’ll meet someplace within the center.
Among the many names listed above, Mayfield slots proper into the Prescott/Lawrence/Goff/Purdy combine by way of expertise and manufacturing. By means of three seasons with the Bucs, Mayfield has thrown for 12,237 yards and 95 touchdowns whereas incomes two Professional Bowl picks and serving to lead Tampa Bay to 2 playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024.
Given the quarterbacks the franchise has had over its 50 seasons, he’s well-positioned to shatter all of the passing data forward of him.
The crew has struggled to discover a long-term reply on the recreation’s most vital place, which is simply extra motive to stay with somebody that has ingrained himself as a core a part of what the crew is. Discovering a franchise quarterback via the draft has traditionally been simpler stated than carried out in Tampa Bay.
Doug Williams (1978, No. 17 general)
Vinny Testaverde (1987, No. 1 general)
Trent Dilfer (1994, No. 6 general)
Josh Freeman (2009, No. 17 general)
Jameis Winston (2015, No. 1 general)
The Bucs Will Not Let Baker Mayfield Merely Stroll Out The Door
Whereas it stays the most probably final result that Bucs and Baker Mayfield come to phrases on a brand new deal, allow us to say nothing materializes. What would occur then? Effectively, Tampa Bay’s subsequent greatest plan of action could be to franchise tag Mayfield for the 2027 season and proceed to barter.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
They won’t simply let him stroll out the door for nothing, particularly given there is no such thing as a different quarterback that may transfer the needle as a lot. Among the many free agent quarterbacks subsequent offseason, none of Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Fields, or Deshaun Watson conjures up a lot confidence.
Assuming the crew is aggressive within the NFC South at worst, their 2027 draft choose will fall outdoors of the highest 15 and won’t be adequate to land a high quarterback prospect resembling Oregon’s Dante Moore or Texas’ Arch Manning. Would they need to hand the keys to the crew to a unique rookie? Transferring in a unique route has bitten them prior to now, resembling letting future Tremendous Bowl-winning quarterbacks Doug Williams, Steve Younger, and Trent Dilfer depart and attain the head elsewhere.
The scenario that’s in entrance of the group is discovering a option to hammer out a contract, with the deadline being earlier than the beginning of coaching camp. If not, Mayfield will probably be betting on himself to get again to his 2024 degree of play, which might solely increase the value tag.
One wrinkle that entrance workplaces must weigh with a contract of this magnitude is how the remainder of the roster is constructed. The most important pending free agent outdoors of Mayfield is veteran defensive sort out Vita Vea, who may doubtlessly be re-signed for lower than his present $17.75 million common annual wage. With Chris Godwin Jr. not having any assured cash after this season, the keys to the vast receiver room may very well be handed over to Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, and Ted Hurst. Such a transfer would save one other $22 million in cap room.
Bucs assistant GM Mike Greenberg and GM Jason Licht – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
That opens the door for some cap flexibility to slot in a bigger quantity on the cap sheet, though the Bucs even have to think about giving second contracts to outdoors linebacker Yaya Diaby and proper guard Cody Mauch. Diaby is anticipated to make within the neighborhood of $20-25 million per yr, whereas Mauch may command near $15 million per yr.
Paying Mayfield an exorbitant amount of cash would restrict the Bucs’ roster-building flexibility, which is why warning is warranted. He will probably be 32 years outdated earlier than the 2027 season and his aggressive play type invitations accidents. That comes with threat, and his observe file suggests 2024 being an abnormality via eight seasons. Then once more, quarterbacks are hardly ever paid solely for what they’ve carried out. Extra usually, groups pay for what they imagine these gamers will do subsequent.
Proper now, the strongest case for the Bucs is extending Mayfield at a quantity nearer to $50 million than $60 million.
The Bucs don’t must make Baker Mayfield the highest-paid quarterback in soccer. They do want to acknowledge what he has turn out to be, which is a high 12 QB within the league.
He’s now not a bridge starter, a reclamation challenge, or a stopgap after Tom Brady. Mayfield is the face of the franchise and the most effective quarterback the group has developed in many years.
The query is just not whether or not he deserves one other contract. It’s whether or not he deserves to affix the NFL’s $60 million membership. Tampa Bay is smart to hesitate, as a result of one other season will make this choice a lot simpler.
