As arguably the best quarterback in this year’s free agent class, Mayfield should have a solid market — should he get there. Spotrac estimates Mayfield’s value on a four-year contract at an average of $27.1 million annually.
Mayfield suggested there hasn’t been any significant developments in negotiations with the Bucs, but added that “now they’re trying to finalize Liam, I think that’ll pick up.”
Based on this, my recommendation of $30m/yr + incentives is generous.
https://atozsports.com/tampa-bay/will-bucs-pay-baker-mayfield/
I could live with this. Let's hope Baker can, too.
My view has changed a bit in recent years on player contracts. He’s a great player and if he stays healthy I’m good with it. it’s not my money and we have plenty of people on the payroll that are stealing money before I’d be worried about overpaying Baker: Jensen (finally retiring), Gage, Shaq, Dean, Davis
Abstract FACTS. Bravo!!!
what you will find is that maybe on that board do not have a brain.
Coming from the same guy that stated Julio Jones was Antonio Bryant and could still play at a high level.
In all fairness, any major thinking beyond “paper or plastic” is a difficult task for Badadipshit.
Look, mild crazy thought. But you know, I think that their are 2 old ass WR's that COULD STILL BALL TO THIS DAY if they really committed to getting in Shape. 1) Calvin Johnson, to me he was the greatest WR of all time The...uhm GWROAT 😉, even better than Moss. Johnson was just like the Barry Sanders of WR's, it was unfortunate. 2) Well...none other than Randy Moss himself. Heres the twist, we dont need WR's right now, we got a pretty deep pool. I would love to see how they would look like lined up against... say Evans or Godwin with Winfield and LVD covering the middle. That could be a nice exhibition game, we could raise money for the Make a Wish childrens foundation or something, Id patronize that arrangement. How about if they hold there own, imagine if they outperformed CB3 and JD, even now..."old." I bet Either one of them would have caught that Pass in the endzone- the one Dean fumbled-Behind their back just to showoff, then if they still had alittle speed in those long striding legs...who knows, pick6?... Cool little thought for the day.
He also won the NFL's "Most Improved Player."
He can win BOTH. Shocking, and both are feathers in his hat, good for him!! Obviously the COMEBACK PLAYER "Improved Player" award is more rewarding, but the inflatable contest was the cherry on top, to show off his arm in a fun atmosphere for the fans, and still clap Stroud and the others who are far more highly touted by the masses. Interesting. Its IRONi!
He essentially played for free this season. Got to pay the piper sometime.
This WAS HIS PROVE IT YEAR.
HE....PROVED'IT!!!!
,to me at least.
He proved it to the NFL, and somebody in the NFL will pay him. He'll get his money. But should the Bucs be the ones to pay him? They may be in a bidding war with the Falcons. Do we want to be the second team in the division to overpay for a middle of the road QB? Last year Derek Carr was the QB on the Bucs fans' radar, and he was too rich for our blood. Good thing he was because now the Saints are saddled with a high priced average QB who will never elevate that team.He essentially played for free this season. Got to pay the piper sometime.
This WAS HIS PROVE IT YEAR.
HE....PROVED'IT!!!!
,to me at least.
Baker did a good job, won a playoff game. But the question is whether this team will get better by paying Baker the big money, or is it better to take a different track. Baker won the battle with Trask, but is he worth $40 mil more than Trask? $35 mil better? How much better is he? I may be "Trask Force" but I've never been pimping Trask on this board, but maybe it's time to start doing that. He's not that bad. If you put that cap space towards a couple of prime time players in areas of need including O-line then maybe that's a better way to move forward.
We've been assuming that Mayfield will be about $25 mil per for two years or three, but if the price is going higher there has to be a point when it's not worth it.
He proved it to the NFL, and somebody in the NFL will pay him. He'll get his money. But should the Bucs be the ones to pay him? They may be in a bidding war with the Falcons. Do we want to be the second team in the division to overpay for a middle of the road QB? Last year Derek Carr was the QB on the Bucs fans' radar, and he was too rich for our blood. Good thing he was because now the Saints are saddled with a high priced average QB who will never elevate that team.He essentially played for free this season. Got to pay the piper sometime.
This WAS HIS PROVE IT YEAR.
HE....PROVED'IT!!!!
,to me at least.
Baker did a good job, won a playoff game. But the question is whether this team will get better by paying Baker the big money, or is it better to take a different track. Baker won the battle with Trask, but is he worth $40 mil more than Trask? $35 mil better? How much better is he? I may be "Trask Force" but I've never been pimping Trask on this board, but maybe it's time to start doing that. He's not that bad. If you put that cap space towards a couple of prime time players in areas of need including O-line then maybe that's a better way to move forward.
We've been assuming that Mayfield will be about $25 mil per for two years or three, but if the price is going higher there has to be a point when it's not worth it.
Very good analytical post. Your right- the question of HOW much is Nuanced indeed. For example, some players Demand Just PayDays, TB12 for example, but structured it in a way that the actual dollar amount paid to him was as team friendly as possible. He did that in Foxboro until he got told he was too old to play by the Great Bill B, jokes on him. The team cannot truly bankrupt itself for the sake of one player, NO TEAM CAN, but money experts can "shuffle money" in attempt to lessen the blow. So the BIG NUMBER is more for Flash and RESPECT, greedy players start to suck at this point in their careers, once they get PAID, they check out, and they take every Cent of the Big Number. The REAL ONES, take the respect of the BIG number and the gesture offered, and then goes in private and works out a deal that works FOR EVERYONE. Thats how its dun by champs. IS BAKER A CHAMP? Thats the question. Will he be more consistent in hitting his GB ceiling Sunday in and Sunday out, year in and year out, thats the question no? No one knows how this plays out until it DOES, we can speculate to HIGH HEAVEN, but the games STILL HAVE TO PLAYED OUT. Ive said this before, I have only really seen about 6-7 solid games this year where i was able to really lock in on him and see for myself. Mixed bag to be sure, but far and beyond more good than goof, I was thoroughly entertained in each game whether win or loss because we always fought until the last whistle, that is until our Last play. At the end of the day, greatness can only be reached by taking a gamble risk. Bill B got LUCKY AF drafting TB12 199th in 2000, he rode those coattails to legend status. P'ma, Andy Reid a tru legend "reached" gambled took a risk when he picked P'Ma, He reached according to talking heads, he disagreed. He SAW something in that fiery little guy, he could be a Real One. I see a Guy who could be a Real One when I see Ballerz. Real One (to me)=Moxie+Selflessness+Humility+COURAGE+UnderDog+Effort+Never say Die!!!x(Etc intagibles no words are able to properly express "je ne sais quoi." Anyhoo, like I said, you cant really play it safe AND create a multi year dynasty, you gotta grab ur ballz at some point and make a BOLD move and Hopium it works out, like hope that a 6th rounder can actually become the Goat or how a small young firecracker could be the Other GOAT. Whos to say that the former number one overall pick can shock us again. Hes been shocking me since he won the QB battle in the ONseason last year, I saw the arm talent that Must have flashed on the practice field the potential to warrant a good polishing through stable and consistent coaching and environment. Heres my thought, my final thought on the matter, I like to gamble, I like Ballerz despite just "meet'n" him. I can usually tell within 5 minutes of meeting a person whether they worth additional time, most can do that. My 5 minute gut/intuition is telling that if the power was in MI hands-Id go all in and take a risk on him. Who else is there, I think its a possible destiny situation- what if-. Lastly as ridiculous as it sounds to go completely all in, P'Ma can win games on his OWN at this point. You can line up the practice squad players at WR, between him and Reid they would still FIND a way to drop dimes on their opponents. So how many big name WR's are on the Cheifs, Cheetah is gone, Kelce is his main weapon, his TE, but he's on the brink of winning yet another SB without any other Megastars. Example 2; Tom Brady won how many superbowls with plug and play WRs, the quick twitch Edelmen types, he had like 4 different "clones" and Gronk and a passable defense and won 6 Rings on his way to GOATHOOD. Vinateri left him, the Pats Defense was what carried them the first couple of years, but the DYNASTY was driven by TB12 and a few Real ones to help carry the load. It doesnt take more that 1 Lion to scatter a herd of sheep, but having 2 or 3 helps make dinner a mere formality. P'Ma, same situation, he has Kelce and maybe 1 or 2 other pieces and thats it, they Carry the rest. Now, Can Ballerz do that? Dunno, he's gotta develop consistency first. Give him 2 years guaranteed money, a PAYDAY TO MAKE HIM SMILE EAR TO EAR, and then, hopefully theres enough left over to keep a few Lions, if it where ME, personally, Id do my best to make sure the IMPORTANT PIeces all stay in place, continuity is important. Id pay that much, however much the total Number is. Whatever it is, he likely deserves it.
Now, I could be wrong. Im usually wrong more than Im right-its how a person can develop a taste for crow- its an AQUIRED skill. But Given the current options, I dont even want to consider losing this guy for at least the next 2 years, given him till then to PROVE IT TO YOU ALL, then the money well spent may not seem so bad of a deal.
He proved it to the NFL, and somebody in the NFL will pay him. He'll get his money. But should the Bucs be the ones to pay him? They may be in a bidding war with the Falcons. Do we want to be the second team in the division to overpay for a middle of the road QB? Last year Derek Carr was the QB on the Bucs fans' radar, and he was too rich for our blood. Good thing he was because now the Saints are saddled with a high priced average QB who will never elevate that team.
Baker did a good job, won a playoff game. But the question is whether this team will get better by paying Baker the big money, or is it better to take a different track. Baker won the battle with Trask, but is he worth $40 mil more than Trask? $35 mil better? How much better is he? I may be "Trask Force" but I've never been pimping Trask on this board, but maybe it's time to start doing that. He's not that bad. If you put that cap space towards a couple of prime time players in areas of need including O-line then maybe that's a better way to move forward.
We've been assuming that Mayfield will be about $25 mil per for two years or three, but if the price is going higher there has to be a point when it's not worth it.
I'll say this, he primarily won the QB competition due to experience, not really beating Trask out. A lot of people have argued, including (but not just) me, that Trask was better in camp and preseason. So even if Trask doesn't play as well as I believe he would as a starter, I think he could still deliver similar results after a few games getting up to speed. So I'm not going to sweat it if Baker does leave, as I value him as replaceable. It's not like we have prime Brady, Mahommes, or Rogers here.
Regardless, if I'm trying to see things through Baker's perspective, he's got some choices to look at. There are three teams that he could potentially go to that run, roughly, the same offense; Carolina, Falcons, and Bucs. He has an obvious lean towards us, and probably doesn't want to go back to Carolina, but I wouldn't 100% rule it out, either. But the Falcons have something to offer (assuming they pursue him) that the Bucs don't; stability. Baker knows that Todd isn't exactly a surefire 2 or 3 more year guy, and the last OC bolted as soon as he could. He has to play with a new coordinator no matter what. So does he pick a new one here, with new staff on offense? And on a team that could dump the head coach after this next season if the record doesn't improve more, or win more playoff games? Or does he go to a team that is just a QB away from being a potential contender with the right coaching, and do so knowing that he'll likely be able to play out his next contract there with the same staff?
I think if the Falcons offer about the same as us, and we re-sign Evans, I think he'll probably come back here, but if the Falcons offer more, he's gone. If Evans isn't resigned, I think he's likely gone as long as he gets a competitive deal. Basically, the Bucs need to have Evans back and offer a deal around the same as any suitor that he may wish to go to if they want to be his top spot. If I was a betting man, I'd lay the odds favoring maybe 2:1 that he'll go to the Falcons IF they want him and make a good offer. I think the Panthers are a total long shot, but if Canales really wants him, and they are willing to pay competitively, don't be shocked if he's brought in there to start until they think Young is ready. But I do think that's not likely, as I assume the owner wants Young to be the guy. We should know in a little more than a month.
I'll say this, he primarily won the QB competition due to experience, not really beating Trask out.
The word "experience" portrayed as a sort of unfair advantage. LOL, in essence, "Mayfield was more experienced, he wasn't the better QB." Sort of a tortured Madden-esque defense of Trask when the same circumstances could be portrayed as a BIG reason Mayfield crushed Trask
Mayfield outperformed Trask in many way in the preseason. One of the biggest ways THAT SHINED LIKE A BIG HUGE BLINKING BEACON ALL SEASON LONG - was in his LEADERSHIP. 2023 Mayfield is a better QB than 2023 Trask in the Madden-esque sense too (arm talent, stats etc). Make no mistake about that. But, one of the KNOCKS on Trask is his personality/leadership where as one of the BIG positive attributes of Mayfield is his personality/leadership.
Personality/leadership is NOT some meaningless intangible for a QB just because it doesn't link to some NextGen stat. Last year the team struggled IN PART because our QB Brady (with all the very best Madden-esque traits) was basically checked out as a LEADER during the offseason and into the season. You've actually heard our FUTURE HOF right tackle talk about this exact contrast with Mayfield 2023 and you've heard MULTIPLE players on the 2023 team RAVE about Mayfield's LEADERSHIP as a REASON FOR WINNING and a reason for NOT going in the tank during a tough skid.
No football player LET ALONE A QB is only a sum of their statistics. Thats is MADDEN. For goodness sake, your argument for playing Trask is two players whose MENTAL intangibles were MISSED by nearly everyone, Brady and Purdy. Yet when Mayfield's mental intangibles push Trask underneath the bench, they are not only DISCOUNTED. but they become sort of an EXCUSE why a "better" Trask was not chose.
Mayfield had Trask sitting firmly on the bench this season FOR MANY REASONS. He was better QB this season BY FAR . . . all around.
https://atozsports.com/tampa-bay/will-bucs-pay-baker-mayfield/
Now, this is reasonable.
Agreed and I think the numbers are what you and multiple people have posted here. I think the circumstances could bring his $ up a bit, but it should be a number that lets the team achieve its goals.
From the article
Mayfield is top-10 in the NFL in touchdowns while limiting his interceptions to less than 12 this year and re-kindled the discussions over whether his ceiling as a quarterback is that of a top-10 guy in the NFL. He is top-5 in average depth of target while maintaining a league-average turnover-worthy play rate. He has done all of this without the aid of his deep ball, but by legitimately improving how well he works the intermediate part of the field.
All of this puts him on a trajectory to earn a mid-tier deal that will most likely work off the original model set by Teddy Bridgewater in Carolina in 2020 and then updated by Geno Smith and the Seahawks in 2022.
- Franchise Tag Likelihood: Low
- 3 years $82.5M, $27.5M APY, $32.5M Fully Gtd
- Year One Cap Hit: $12.5 million
Let him test the market and match. He's not leaving.
they've likely already priced it. His agent and the Bucs have very likely already agreed on a tight range that is the standard for the contract.
this stuff is not really “rocket surgery”
So let me ask you a question. What teams would offer Mayfield such a contract?
It's a good thing Badabing did the work, otherwise this question would have never been answered - even though it isn't rocket surgery.
"The Bucs actually asked Baker Mayfield for his input on all the coaches they were interviewing, including Liam Coen. “Do I know them? Do I have any interaction? What are my thoughts on that?” Mayfield said, adding that it was a “first” for him to be involved in that."
Let him test the market and match. He's not leaving.
they've likely already priced it. His agent and the Bucs have very likely already agreed on a tight range that is the standard for the contract.
this stuff is not really “rocket surgery”
So let me ask you a question. What teams would offer Mayfield such a contract?
It's a good thing Badabing did the work, otherwise this question would have never been answered - even though it isn't rocket surgery.
"The Bucs actually asked Baker Mayfield for his input on all the coaches they were interviewing, including Liam Coen. “Do I know them? Do I have any interaction? What are my thoughts on that?” Mayfield said, adding that it was a “first” for him to be involved in that."
“Like I told you guys and to keep it straightforward, I would love to be back with Mike. There are a lot of contingencies that go into that. Getting an OC on offense is step one. Mike sees that, I’ll have to talk to him about it and see his thoughts.
package deal . . .
It does seem to feel like it may hinge on a package deal. I think either all the cornerstone pieces stay, or the ALL dip- Some of these guys formed brotherly bonds that outweighs teamhood. I think ME and Baller are perhaps that tight, I think its best for all for them to stay paired, they trust each other...thats real continuity. U dont do a thing for the money, U dU a thing for A purpose!
At this point, the team is trying to lay down some cornerstone/foundational type bricks. Getting the right OC was step 1, thats it, more needs to occur for it to be DUN, stamped and Delivered. I cant waIt to see it all play out. Do the Bucs Leadership go aggressive like when they hired Dungy, or Chucky, or TB12, or AB(both-At least he showed up in the SB- then danced himself out SMH). Or do they play it safe like Lovie Smith, the "dont shoot urself in the dic foot scheme" We see how some gambles have payed off while others have utterly failed...Josh Freeman, Vinny T, Jameis...Greg Schiano, Raheem Morris, Aquib Talib among others. But in NEITHER of our SB Years did we ever PLAY IT SAFE, we WON the FIRST YEAR of Chucky-The same year of the gamble!!.. then we faded, the BUcs faded into obscureness---> Dark ages of Rob Johnson, Brian Griese, RYAN LEAF, The Italian guy who wasnt half bad, forgotten times and GM moves from an eternity ago. Fastforward to our 2nd SuperBOWL, it was in TB's 1st year that we won it all- The year of the of the gamble. Then we faded into...well what was supposed to be another Bucs "dark ages" the Post TB12 era, the lucky to win as many games as the patriots with Bill B vs the TBowels era. It kinda played out differently than anyone expected. We started off well, then the Bucs broke down-and in season "dark age" if U wIll, but they were able to snap outta it. Why...what changed? If we had to speculate on one reason that the team picked itself up by the boot straps and got back on the horse and ride that to Carolina for one chance at entry to the Playoff Parti. Luckily they got hot just on the nick of time, had they lost one more game, lets say the final regular season game against Carolina, we woulda missed the party, but we didnt. We got hot just in the 'nic'of'time....the only thing that can do that, I suppose, is guts. I know a guy thats got guts and charisma, could that Guy have been the one to help himself and his teammates get back on the horse. I have no idea, but I have a knack at identifying Important variables, especially the ones that dont appear to be so.
