The Buccaneers are committing to the Baker Mayfield era in Tampa Bay following his career season in 2023 with the Bucs in which he led a supposedly rebuilding team to an NFC South title and a playoff win.
The post-Brady era in Tampa has gotten off to a far better and smoother start than Jason Licht or anyone in the front office could have hoped for. They now have their guy under center who has won over the locker room through sheer power of will as well as some stellar play on the field.
His 3-year/$115 million deal does not seem as daunting when you learn that only $50 million of that is fully guaranteed. In a day and age where starting quarterbacks are signing mega-deals worth $50 million per season, this is an absolute win for the Bucs.
His rather tame contract looks even better when looking at the 4-year/$180 million with $100 million guaranteed that Kirk Cousins signed to join the Bucs division rival, the Atlanta Falcons.
Cousins is a fine player, but he has never been confused for being elite. Now, at 35, coming off a torn Achilles, he is laughing all the way to the bank. Baker on the other hand, is only 28 and seemingly has his best football in front of him.
Baker Mayfield's new contract is a win-win for everyone involved
Alongside resigning Mike Evans, Tampa has been able to keep their offense together and they can now focus on building off the good feelings from this past season. It looked for awhile that Tampa was going to let both Mayfield and Evans hit the open market, which I aggressively wrote would have been a bad idea.
From Mayfield's perspective, this deal does a few things for him:
- Gives him more money than he has seen in the rest of his NFL career combined.
- At 28, the length of the deal will allow him to secure another big contract if he keeps playing well.
- Provides him the the long-term security and stability he has been yearning for throughout his career.
With Mayfield, Evans and Chris Godwin all under contract, Licht and Co. can now focus on filling out the other pieces around this trio to move into the future. As of this writing, Russell Gage will not have his option picked up, meaning they're in the market for a No. 3 wideout. Although, Trey Palmer has something to say about that.
However, the two most important objectives on the offensive side of the ball this off-season have been accomplished. The Baker Era is now fully underway in Tampa Bay.
There were doubts when he signed last off-season that he would be the one to replace Tom Brady. Some even mocked and scoffed the move. As we assess it now, Baker Mayfield and the Bucs have at least 50 million reasons and a Division title to show they got it exactly right.