Buccaneers Look to Get Long-Term Extension with Baker Mayfield

INDIANAPOLIS — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off a successful playoff trip with Baker Mayfield at the helm at quarterback, and they hope to get him back. While the team is unlikely to franchise tag Mayfield, a long-term extension seems inevitable mainly. Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht sang Mayfield’s praises, hoping to get an extension done.

“Baker meant a lot to this team, this fanbase and this town and I think we meant a lot to him,” Licht said. “I think it was a perfect marriage. I’ve said it before, but he sought us out. He gambled on us, saw it as a good situation and saw it better than a lot of national outlets that saw us winning two games. So, he thought it would be good for him and it certainly was. I know he wants to be Buc and we want him to be a Buc, so that is usually a good starting point.”

Pro Football Focus believes that the answer could come in free agency. Gordon McGuiness wants the Steelers to go out and pursue Baker Mayfield in free agency to help fix their quarterback situation moving forward.

It feels very likely that Mayfield will stick around with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but on the off chance that he does hit free agency, the Steelers should be the first team to pick up the phone,” he wrote. “While Mayfield hasn’t lived up to the billing of being a former No. 1 overall pick, he is back at the level of his second and third seasons with the Cleveland Browns, earning a 74.6 PFF grade with 25 big-time throws and 24 turnover-worthy plays in the 2023 regular season.”

As he notes, Baker Mayfield seems likely to head back to Tampa Bay. Mayfield, the Browns’ No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, was the team’s starting quarterback for for four seasons. In his career, he has thrown for 20,332 yards, 130 touchdowns and 74 interceptions for an 88,1 passer rating. He was injured in 2021, and had his worst season as a professional in 2021, prompting Cleveland to attempt to replace him this offseason with the Deshaun Watson trade. Mayfield did not find much more success with the Carolina Panthers or the Los Angeles Rams as he floated around the NFL before reviving his career in Tampa Bay last season.