The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the midst of a contract standoff with quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The front office and Mayfield’s representation have been involved in tense negotiations throughout the offseason, but there doesn’t seem to be much progress being made.
Mayfield has laid out a hard deadline of training camp for the two parties to agree on a deal before he ends talks until the offseason and plays out his contract year.
Training camp is on the horizon, and an NFL insider’s latest update makes it sound like the Bucs aren’t overly motivated by the fast approaching deadline.
Buccaneers are in “no rush” to sign Baker Mayfield to a contract extension
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Mayfield and the Bucs remain at a stalemate.
@MikeGarafolo is reporting that the Bucs aren’t close on contract extensions for Baker Mayfield & Vita Vea, and they’re in no rush.
— The Pewter Plank (@ThePewterPlank) July 8, 2026
“When it comes to Baker Mayfield or even Vita Vea on the other side of the ball… the Bucs are in no rush on either one of these.”
🎥 @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/U5CKCsLloy
“They are not close, yet. I know that… There's a lot of work that needs to be done on this one… The Bucs are in no rush,” said Garafolo.
The fact that there’s a lot of work to be done isn’t necessarily the alarming part of the report — it’s the claim that the Bucs aren’t in a rush.
Training camp begins on July 28th, which is just three weeks away. If the team is still nowhere close on an agreement with Mayfield, and they’re simultaneously not in a rush to change that, it sure sounds like they’re content with making Mayfield play out the final year of his deal.
There’s certainly logic behind that potential decision. Mayfield’s next contract is likely to pay him in the realm of $50 million annually. The Bucs might want to see more out of their quarterback before they make such a major commitment.
A strong individual season in 2026 could be what the organization needs to see before going all-in on Mayfield as the franchise quarterback, while a mediocre season could allow them to get a discount, or even make them balk at an extension completely.
But while allowing the season to play out makes sense on one hand, the Bucs would also be taking a risk by potentially allowing Mayfield to reach the open market next offseason. He’s likely to be the top quarterback available in next year’s free agency period, which could attract other suitors and draw Tampa Bay into a bidding war.
The only way to avoid that would be to use the franchise tag, which came in at about $44 million this offseason, and will likely rise by next offseason. So either way, the Bucs will be paying Mayfield well north of $40 million if he remains their quarterback in 2027.
Should the front office bite the bullet and do what it takes to satisfy their franchise quarterback with a long-term deal, or are they doing the right thing by standing firm?
For now, it sure seems like if Mayfield isn’t willing to lower his demands, the Bucs are content to play the waiting game and continue to drag out this contract saga.
Add us as a preferred source on Google