Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Is the Baker Mayfield contract extension a concern? I imagine if he and Zac Robinson hit it off they will bring back both at all costs and at that point Mayfield will have proven he is worth it.

ANSWER: I am not concerned about the contract extension talks between the Bucs and quarterback Baker Mayfield at all for several reasons. First, Mayfield wants to continue to play in Tampa Bay and the Bucs want him to continue to be their quarterback. Second, Mayfield and the Bucs have already successfully negotiated two previous contracts – his initial, one-year, prove-it deal worth $4 million in 2023 and his three-year, $100 million extension in 2024.

And third, and perhaps most important, Mayfield has seen the likes of Pro Bowl star players like Antoine Winfield Jr. and Mike Evans have to play out their contract years before and wind up being rewarded handsomely. Evans signed a two-year extension worth $41 million, which was fair market value at the age of 30, and the Bucs even offered him more than the 49ers did to re-sign with the team this offseason.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Scott Reynolds/PR

After Winfield delivered an All-Pro season in 2023, Tampa Bay made him the highest-paid defensive back in the NFL for a brief moment with a four-year, $84.1 million extension. Mayfield has seen firsthand that the Glazers, general manager Jason Licht and assistant G.M. Mike Greenberg are prepared to open the checkbook for the right players at the right time, so he shouldn’t have any concerns about being treated fairly.

I don’t have any inside information on where things stand in terms of Mayfield’s contract demands and where the team is in offering him a new salary worth far more than his current $33.3 million annual average. I did hear prior to the start of the 2025 season that the team believed Mayfield could fetch $50 million on the open market.

Now, this was coming off a 4,500-yard season in 2024 when he threw 41 touchdowns – both career highs – and completed a franchise-record 71.4% of his passes while leading Tampa Bay to 10 wins and another NFC South title. Mayfield’s numbers dipped considerably last year due to injuries and Josh Grizzard’s ineffectiveness as a first-year play-caller, and teams usually want to pay a player for what he’s done in his most recent season. Mayfield threw for 3,693 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing just 63.2% of his passes in 2025.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Those numbers were more akin to what Mayfield produced under offensive coordinator Dave Canales in 2023 when he threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing 64.3% of his passes. So the Bucs want to know which QB they are going to get – the 26-28 touchdown guy in 2023 and 2025 under Canales and Grizzard or the 41-TD guy who had a career year under Liam Coen? That’s likely the difference between making $50 million or $55 million per year.

The hope is that new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who coached with Coen in Los Angeles and is part of the Sean McVay-Rams coaching tree, can get Mayfield’s production back to 2024 levels. Robinson was the Rams QBs coach in 2022 when Mayfield spent the last five weeks of the season as the starter in L.A. when Matthew Stafford was injured. I have a feeling Robinson and Mayfield will both be successful in 2026 – and both will be in Tampa Bay for quite some time as a result.

QUESTION: With Baker Mayfield unhappy with contract talks, do you think he holds out of training camp?

ANSWER: I seriously doubt it. Baker Mayfield loves football and his teammates too much to hold out for a new contract. If anything, the time to execute a holdout is during the offseason, just like Jacoby Brissett is doing in Arizona by holding out of OTAs in a contract dispute.

Mayfield set the deadline for an extension to get done this year prior to the start of training camp in late July. If a new contract isn’t in place by then, Mayfield has said he looks forward to having a good season and we have to take him at his word. Mayfield could have easily held out prior to the 2025 season after his big year in 2024 in an attempt for a pay raise, as he is just the 16th-highest paid quarterback in the league, but he’s really a top 12 talent. Yet he didn’t.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The team essentially thanked him for not adding more money to his salary cap hit by fully guaranteeing his 2026 base salary, which will be $40 million this season. When Mayfield signed his extension in 2024, he was still the third highest paid QB in the division at $33.3 million behind Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins, who was averaging $45 million per year, and New Orleans’ Derek Carr, who was averaging $37.5 million per year. Yet Mayfield was the best QB in the division in 2024, and technically in 2025 despite a dip in his production due to injuries.

This isn’t the first time Mayfield has played in a contract year. He came to Tampa Bay on a one-year deal worth $4 million in 2023 with a lot more on the line. So he’s dealt with the pressure of playing in a contract year before and handled it extremely well.

Had Mayfield not been a successful starter for the Bucs in 2023, he likely would have had the same fate as Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota – former first-round picks who failed as starters and were relegated to being career backups. As we know, Mayfield rose to the occasion, resurrected his career and took the team to the NFC Divisional playoffs after a 9-8 season and a home Wild Card win over Philadelphia.

Unless the Bucs and Mayfield make substantial progress this summer in contract talks, this may not be resolved into the days leading up to free agency next year. And keep in mind that Tampa Bay can always place the franchise tag on Mayfield to keep him around for the 2027, too.

QUESTION: How much is Baker Mayfield worth? Is he even worth $50 million per season?

ANSWER: Yes, Baker Mayfield is worth $50 million per year. He’s currently underpaid as the league’s 16th highest paid quarterback at $33.3 million as he enters the final year of his three-year, $100 million contract. But where does Mayfield rank among all starting NFL QBs? Well, that’s subjective, but I think at worst he’s in the top 12 – maybe as No. 12. And if Mayfield has another season like he did in 2024 when he passed for a career-high 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, he’s a top 10 quarterback – somewhere between No. 8 and No. 10, depending on your opinion of Mayfield.

The highest paid quarterback in the league is currently Dallas’ Dak Prescott, who makes $60 million per year. There is a tie for second place as Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow each make $55 million per year. There are a total of 11 quarterbacks who make at least $50 million, and the rest of the list includes Detroit’s Jared Goff ($53 million), San Francisco’s Brock Purdy ($53 million), Los Angeles’ Justin Herbert ($52.5 million), Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson ($52 million) and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts ($51 million).

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence – Photo by: USA Today

If Mayfield’s next deal paid him $50 million per year, he would be the 12th highest paid QB. But Mayfield can make a serious argument that he’s as good or better than Lawrence, Love, Purdy, Herbert and Hurts. Lawrence makes the most of this bunch at $55 million, while Hurts makes the least at $51 million. Mayfield might even argue that he’s as good or better than Prescott, who is just 2-5 in the postseason with the Cowboys.

The guess here is that the Bucs have started contract negotiations at $50 million per year and Mayfield is asking for Prescott money at $60 million. This is very typical when it comes to contract talks – the player starts high and the team starts low and they usually meet somewhere in the middle. But at the outset, a $10 million discrepancy is a canyon – not a crease.

I think if Mayfield winds up playing close to or better than his 2024 performance the Bucs will feel much better paying him around $55 million per year, especially if the season ends with double-digit wins and another NFC South title and home playoff game. In the end I think that’s what he’ll wind up getting. Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo projects Mayfield’s next contract as a four-year deal worth $216 million, averaging $54 million per year.

QUESTION: What vibes are you sensing from the Bucs these days?

ANSWER: The vibes are high at One Buccaneer Place these days – like sky high. There is no moping over the fact that the Bucs finished with a disappointing 8-9 record, losing the NFC South title to the Panthers in the process. The players aren’t sulking, and no one is even missing Mike Evans or Lavonte David right now. Those ships have sailed and their days in red and pewter are in the rear view mirror.

Instead, there is an incredible amount of resolve, which is great to see. There appears to be an intense focus on righting the Bucs ship and setting sail for the NFC South title once again. I think the fact that the Bucs don’t play a divisional opponent until Week 7 when they host the Panthers on Monday Night Football helps. There will be some tension building through the first two months of the season before Tampa Bay can extract some revenge on Carolina.

Bucs ILB Alex Anzalone – Photo by: Brian Collera/PR

All of the Buccaneers’ newcomers – free agents and rookies – have quickly assimilated into the team and have been welcomed with open arms. Everyone is rowing in the same direction and team chemistry is being emphasized and forged right now. All of the new assistant coaches, as well as offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and special teams coordinator Danny Smith, have drawn rave reviews from the players and head coach Todd Bowles.

Attendance during the voluntary OTAs and offseason program is at an all-time high with nearly 100% participation. In my 31 years of covering this team, I’ve never seen OTAs where maybe just one or two players aren’t in attendance. It’s quite something.

Who knows how all of this will translate this season in terms of manifesting wins? But I don’t think Bowles and general manager Jason Licht could have asked for anything more from the players this offseason in terms of attendance and attitude.

QUESTION: Who stood out in Wednesday and Thursday OTA practices? Did the offense rebound after defense won the day on Tuesday?

ANSWER: The short answer is yes, as Pewter Report had Bucs cornerback Jacob Parrish on the Pewter Report Podcast on Thursday after the final OTA practice of the week and he did say that the Wednesday and Thursday practices were more even after the defense dominated on Tuesday. The offense apparently picked it up on Wednesday and Thursday. Here’s that Pewter Report Podcast episode if you want to check it out.

When it comes to who stood out during the second week of OTAs, check out my latest Pewter Pulse video from Saturday where I chronicle the names of several Bucs players who shined in all three practices.