Ever since Tom Brady announced his retirement on Feb. 1 — for good this time — the Bucs’ biggest job of the offseason has been finding his replacement. On Wednesday, they may have taken a step toward doing so, signing quarterback Baker Mayfield to a one-year, $4 million deal that’s worth up to $8.5 million. Adam Schefter was first to report the news, and Albert Breer delivered the contract details.

Given Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation and need to find value this offseason, Mayfield always felt like a strong possibility as the team searched for a new signal-caller. Pewter Report wrote about Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett as the two likeliest options for the Bucs, and now the former will find himself suiting up in red, white and pewter this season.

Mayfield will not be given the Bucs’ starting quarterback job by any means, as 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask will compete with him all throughout the offseason and into training camp. Trask has received plenty of support from the Bucs’ brass over the last month or so, but he’ll get a serious challenge from Mayfield.

Baker Mayfield’s Career So Far

QB Baker Mayfield – Photo By: USA Today

Mayfield was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 Draft by the Browns. That came after a Heisman Trophy-winning season at Oklahoma in which he threw for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns to six interceptions while completing 70.5% of his passes. He added 311 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Mayfield’s 2018 rookie season had its share of ups and downs, though he showed plenty of flashes in completing 63.8% of his passes for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns to 14 interceptions while playing to a 6-7 record in 13 starts. The 2019 season wasn’t as kind to the former college walk-on, as the Browns went 6-10 and he completed just 59.4% of his passes for 3,827 yards and 22 touchdowns to 21 interceptions.

But then came 2020, the best season of Mayfield’s career. Playing under Kevin Stefanski, he posted a 62.8% completion rate, 3,563 yards and 26 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. Cleveland went 11-5 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2002, then the team won a postseason game for the first time since the 1994 season.

In that playoff win over the Steelers, Mayfield went 21-of-34 for 263 yards and three touchdowns. In an AFC Divisional Round loss to the Chiefs, he was 23-of-37 for 204 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Baker Mayfield Now Finds Himself Looking For A Career Revival

Rams QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

It was in 2021 when Mayfield’s time in Cleveland began to unravel. He played through a partially torn labrum for much of the year, and it clearly impacted his play. Playing to a 6-8 record in 14 starts, he threw for 3,010 yards and 17 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.

Then, in the offseason, the Browns publicly pursued — and then traded for — Deshaun Watson despite having picked up Mayfield’s fifth-year option. With the relationship between both sides irreparably damaged, Mayfield was traded to Carolina last offseason.

His tenure with the Panthers was short-lived, as he started six games and only won one while throwing six touchdowns and six interceptions before suffering an ankle injury. By the time he came back, Carolina had moved on, so he requested his release and the team granted it.

Mayfield then impressively led the Rams to a comeback win over the Raiders on Thursday Night Football only a couple of days after he joined them. It was a remarkable performance, one that was a major highlight a tough year-plus for the former top pick.

Between his two teams last season, Mayfield started 10 games and completed 60% of his passes for 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His time working with Sean McVay in Los Angeles revived his stock a bit heading into free agency, and now he’s in the mix to start for the Bucs in 2023.

Baker Mayfield Joins A Bucs’ QB Room In Transition

QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
Photo By: USA Today

Baker Mayfield adds a unique element to the Bucs’ quarterback competition. He’s had an up-and-down NFL career so far, but there’s no doubt that he has some upside that new offensive coordinator Dave Canales will hope to tap into.

Canales talked in his introductory press conference about the need for his quarterback to be a distributor and focus on getting the ball to his skill talent. And if Mayfield wins the Bucs’ quarterback job over Trask, he’ll be working with more skill talent than he ever has before.

Mike Evans and Chris Godwin make up one of the best receiver duos in the NFL, while the supporting cast of Russell Gage, Cade Otton and Rachaad White — plus whoever the team adds this offseason — is intriguing in its own right.

Mayfield certainly has a confident personality that is reflected in his play. He’s not afraid to take chances and push the ball downfield, which comes with both its advantages and disadvantages. That’s part of his upside and overall big-play potential, which is good. But Canales will want him to rein in the risk-taking to a degree so that he takes care of the ball better than he has in the past. The Bucs are certainly hoping that their new offensive coordinator can help revitalize Mayfield’s career, much like he assisted in Geno Smith’s NFL Comeback Player of the Year season in Seattle last year.

Overall, it’ll be interesting to see how Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask mesh throughout their competition for the Bucs’ starting job. Not to mention, the team will still add a third quarterback to the room and eventually a fourth arm for camp. The group will look far different than it has in the past few years, but such is life in the post-Brady era for Tampa Bay.