We're nearly through the doldrums of summer, when football topics to talk about seem to be few and far between. Soon the regular season will start and we will indulge in a non-stop buffet of football and talking head reactions to games that actually matter.
Until then, though, folks like Colin Cowherd are squeezing ever last drop of blood from the offseason stone that was hurled at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in Feburary. After Tom Brady retired, everyone in the national media got really weird about the Bucs; Peter King ranked them the second-worst team in the NFL while everyone took the lowest hanging fruit and dubbed the team as candidates to tank for a top draft pick.
No one in the Bucs organization shares this sentiment, something that was reflected in offseason moves designed to make the team competitive. The biggest move the team made is also one of the easiest to criticize, as the Bucs signed BAker Mayfield to compete for the starting quarterback job.
This was instantly taken wildly out of context to frame it as Baker replacing Brady, something Mayfield has called out as bogus. That hasn't stopped folks from feasting on an easy target, with Cowherd boasting a full belly.
Colin Cowherd trashes Baker Mayfield: "He's not accurate"
Kurt Warner recently predicted that Baker might be in line for a bounce back season with the Bucs, something that personally offended Cowherd.
At least, that's how it seems based on how quickly he clapped back at the notion that Baker isn't washed.
“He’s not accurate anymore,” Cowherd said on his FS1 show. “It just comes down to that. Ball placement? Not good.”
This isn't the first time Cowherd has filled airtime with an anti-Baker rant. Earlier this offseason he compared him to Patrick Mahomes as a way of demeaning Baker's leadership skills and place in an NFL locker room.
“They have something that I think is important in that they have this incredible confidence but it’s never narcissism, it’s never conceited, and it’s never arrogance,” Cowherd said at the time. “That was the problem with Baker. They were confident but it became conceit or arrogant or maybe both, and it I was obnoxious at times.”
That was back in July, which means Cowherd has been sitting on Baker rage for over a month, something that probably won't get displaced anytime soon. It is, however, a bit misplaced as the Bucs saw Mayfield flip the quarterback battle during the team's first preseason game.
Nothing will actually matter until the regular season starts, including getting cranky about Cowherd bashing the Bucs. Fans in Tampa Bay have been subjected to this sort of backhanded analysis all offseason and it's almost time to find out if the team is ready to respond in kind.