Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Baker Mayfield was playing at an MVP level before injuries - both his own and to literally every offensive position group - set in, and General Manager Jason Licht agrees that the Bucs need to keep Mayfield in Tampa Bay for as long as possible.
Mayfield is a love him or hate him kind of player, but for Bucs fans, there is no question that they are fully in love with the former Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback. He is playing at a franchise level for the first time in his career, and although the Bucs missed out on making back-to-back playoffs with No. 6 at the helm, Mayfield was not at fault; the defense was.
Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Licht affirmed that the Buccaneers want to make sure Mayfield is under solid contract beyond 2026 and that the club are seeking to extend him this offseason. Licht said, via FOX Sports Bucs beat writer Greg Auman, “Our thoughts on Baker haven’t changed."
Jason Licht is ready to pay Baker Mayfield
As with CJ Stroud over on the Houston Texans, a few media malcontents and fair weather fans have caused questions to be raised about Mayfield's status as the unquestioned face of the franchise, but neither Nick Caserio in Texas nor Licht in the most beautiful Bay Area are blinking in the face of outright stupidity.
The Buccaneers have unequivocally been better with Mayfield under contract, and though he technically has more years left on his deal, those are voidable years. As with defensive pillar Vita Vea manning the nose tackle position, Mayfield is someone Licht and the Bucs are prioritizing keeping.
Everything starts and ends at the quarterback position in the NFL these days, so if you don't have a quarterback, you don't have a team. Mayfield knows that personally, having seen what the Cleveland Browns became after he left and replaced him with the most disgusting quarterback contract in NFL history, Deshaun Watson.
The Bucs aren't about to become the Browns of the south, letting go of a top quarterback when they already have him in Mayfield. Now the question becomes how to pay Mayfield and still allocate enough financial resources to the defense so that their quarterback actually has a fighting chance of competing for Super Bowls and MVP awards, and that is, in the modern NFL even with the expanded cap, the real challenge for GMs.