Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield is a headstrong, stubborn, and driven individual who is not afraid to tell it like it is, even if he is breaking conventions or ruffling feathers along the way, and that is precisely why fans of the teams he play for generally love him, especially the Bucs faithful.
Mayfield did maybe cross the line slightly by publicly talking about how far apart he and the Bucs were in contract negotiations, but his latest typical Baker comments on the Buccaneers defense last season will actually be met positively by fans who were also fed up with that unit all of last season.
Speaking to the press at minicamp, Mayfield, in praising the new look Todd Bowles defense going into the 2026 NFL regular season, seemed to take a shot at how the defensive struggles affected him last season.
Baker Mayfield knows he needs more help
He said, via Joe Bucs Fan, “I feel confident about where our defense is at. Instead of trying to, you know, have to put up 30 points each game, I feel confident that we’re going to have a really good team."
While quarterbacks usually should not be this blunt about their teammates, there is nothing wrong with what Baker Mayfield said here about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, because it is 100 percent true and is a statement of fact that every single player associated with the Bucs defense should be in wholehearted agreement.
It was obvious throughout the collapse in the second half of the 2025 NFL season that cost the Buccaneers what should have been an easy playoff spot in the NFC South that Mayfield and the offense were having to do way too much, under far too much pressure to put up what really did need to be 30 points just to be competitive.
Furthermore, it did not help either that the Buccaneers were navigating a lot of injuries during the second half of the season to stars like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Bucky Irving. Those are the best supporting cast players for Mayfield, and combine that with a defense that was a sieve and you get a no win situation for the Bucs quarterback.
Todd Bowles and the Bucs defense now have two real rookie finds in Josiah Trotter and Rueben Bain Jr. who can contribute immediately as starters, and veteran signings like Alex Anzalone and A'Shawn Robinson figure to be big upgrades, too.
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