The post-Tom Brady Tampa Bay Buccaneers served as the perfect landing spot for the ailing Baker Mayfield. Outside a dramatic start for the LA Rams—signing with the team, learning the playbook and starting within 24 hours—Baker seen as a bust, a former no. 1 overall pick failing to reach expectations.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers rescued him from this scrutiny, blanketing the QB refugee with a pre-made Super Bowl roster, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the outside, Bucky Irvin in the backfield, defense full of top draft picks.
Mayfield dropped back-to-back 4,000-yard passing seasons in 2023 and ’24, the latter being the best season of Mayfield’s life, career-highs everywhere—4,500 yards, 41 TD passes (and 16 INTs), 71.4% completion rate, 7.9 yards per attempt. The stats so gaudy, Mayfield got 2 straight OCs head coaching jobs (Dave Canales in Carolina and Liam Coen in Jacksonville).
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Baker planned to enter this season on the expiring, the way Tampa Bay’s moved in the past, not extending guys, always letting contracts expire and re-signing players in the offseason, but Mayfield did not care about any of that, claiming to be “disrespected” by the organization
“To feel disrespected a little bit, that’s really the disappointing part to feel undervalued after, you know, thinking you earned it,” Mayfield added when speaking to reporters about his contract status. “This is not a ‘poor me’ thing. There’s a lot of other people that have it way worse off. I can sit here and look at other quarterbacks and peers and evaluate myself based on that and put myself in certain categories, that I deserve to be compensated for that.
“I think I’m a franchise quarterback. I’ve been told I’m a franchise quarterback. It’s been said publicly from ownership down here. So to not have a deal done is very disappointing.”
And Baker is certainly their franchise QB—leading them to back-to-back playoff appearances before narrowly missing last season’s postseason thanks to divisional hijinks outside of their control—well, outside of their control Week 18.
Baker and Tampa need each other
Whatever team ends up having an open QB spot next season either intentionally designed their team as such, hoping their future awaits atop next spring’s draft—OR—they have a revolving door of losers trapping them in purgatory.
What team would Baker sign with next season with a pre-made championship roster like he had joining the Buccaneers? And without that pre-made championship roster, are we sure Baker even looks like a competitive ball player? The Carolina Panthers tape exists. We seent it.
The Buccaneers need Baker—who’s objectively the best QB in a winnable NFC South as the Atlanta Falcons prepare to start Tua Tagovailoa Week 1 of 2026—waving the white flag at Go—and I’ve seen nothing to believe Tyler Shough is a threat. To me, his gun blows bubbles. I’m not shook.
Todd Bowles lost the locker room a year ago, zombie on the sidelines. Mike Evans gone to San Fran. Another ring around their stars trees, older.
Both Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are witnessing a rapidly shrinking championship window. Of course they both inked the extension. A middle-aged couple looking around and realizing the person sitting across from them is the best they’ll ever do.
Again, cannot stress enough—still better than whatever’s going on in Atlanta…
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