Although there is a lot of talk about the new look wide receivers, including Ted Hurst, Kenny Gainwell out of the backfield, Rueben Bain Jr. now coming off the edge, and the other new faces looking to boost Todd Bowles's maligned defense, there is no question that the biggest 2026 storyline surrounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as training camp gets set to begin is the future of Baker Mayfield.
The Buccaneers franchise quarterback is angling for an eye watering deal based on the fact that he and the Buccaneers have yet to agree to anything, as Jason Licht and Co. have made it obvious that they believe in the Bake and want to keep him in the Bay Area at any reasonable cost, even after a very difficult 2025 NFL regular season in which Tampa failed to make the playoffs in the easiest division in football.
As Mayfield and the Bucs work on hammering out a deal that will pay the former Oklahoma Sooner well over $50 million annually, the Buccaneers also have to think about contingency plans. And there are already folks in the media wondering if things will go south for the Bucs and Mayfield, forcing Tampa Bay to do something they have not done in ages and attempt to pick up a franchise QB.
Are the Bucs going to draft QB in 2027?
In his latest early look at the 2027 NFL Draft, Sports Illustrated draft analyst Justin Melo, one of the best in the business, actually mocked a quarterback to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is, again, not something Bucs fans see very often.
Melo has the Bucs taking a third Miami Hurricane in two years, snagging Carson Beck's successor in Darian Mensah, who the Buccaneers would hope is every bit as talented and hyped as Cam Ward is for the Tennessee Titans in that lineage of quarterbacks from the U.
The SI draft analyst said of his No. 19 overall pick for the Buccaneers in 2027, "Baker Mayfield is in a contract year and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been hesitant to make a long-term commitment. Darian Mensah threw for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns for the ACC champion Duke Blue Devils last season. Mensah now transfers to Miami, which helped Cam Ward become a No. 1 overall pick at quarterback."
Nobody can pretend to know how Mensah projects at the next level for the NFL, but now that he is mocked to the Bucs, fans of the team will be thinking about him this college football season if Mayfield still does not have a new deal in the Fall.
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