BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS:
Mayfield went out of his way to suggest the Bucs were shady as a business model. (Ouch).
Bucs "fired back" yesterday with an off the record/background suggestion that Mayfield misled people in his press conference about where the team was.
Bucs version --
"When asked about being among the top 10 or in the $50+-million-per-year club, Mayfield told Fowler he "needed to be put in that category" and the Bucs were "pretty far" from it. He added that he never sought to reset the market and was realistic. He also said that he never considered a holdout or a hold-in.
The Buccaneers felt their offers in the final days of the negotiation were competitive, including a two-year deal worth slightly above $100 million in total, sources told Fowler."
Not sure any of it matters, especially without the details (guarantees, for example), but this is the kind if stuff that gets negotiating parties sideways, especial the part (reported by ESPN) that a source close to Mayfield thought he never got over the initial offer.
"Mayfield was long dismayed by the team’s low initial offer in June, to the point that one source close to him wondered whether that fueled his direct tone in his press conferences weeks later."
(The Fowler part, in bold above, was a late update so Fowler he over reported Mayfield's side.)
2 year deal isn't going to cut it when you gave him a 3 year deal preceding that offer. Had the Bucs offered a 3 or 4 year deal most of this drama would not have happened. If I was the Bucs FO I would offer a 3 year deal to re up him this year which is essentially a 2 year deal starting from 2027 onwards.
The reason why Mayfield is angry is that a 2 year deal signed this year when he is already under contract is in essence a 1 year deal from his view. He is already under contract and length of years is what matters to him. Bucs FO is rarely going to give 4 or 5 year deal but a 3 year deal would have avoided all this drama.
A 2 year deal would have been meh but okay to offer once Mayfield was a FA next year but again the contract length matters to players more.
Not sure any of it matters, especially without the details (guarantees, for example)
Hearing it was essentially fully guaranteed.
It was the length.
The reason why Mayfield is angry is that a 2 year deal signed this year when he is already under contract is in essence a 1 year deal from his view. He is already under contract and length of years is what matters to him.
It could have been a two-year extension on top of the current deal.
After hearing the PC, I thought Mayfield was unprofessional. Prior this, I thought he was handling himself very well - unlike Vea requesting a trade. He can be pissed about it, but airing all of that publicly was out of line. I thought he looked whiny yesterday, which was disappointing.
The reason why Mayfield is angry is that a 2 year deal signed this year when he is already under contract is in essence a 1 year deal from his view. He is already under contract and length of years is what matters to him.
It could have been a two-year extension on top of the current deal.
After hearing the PC, I thought Mayfield was unprofessional. Prior this, I thought he was handling himself very well - unlike Vea requesting a trade. He can be pissed about it, but airing all of that publicly was out of line. I thought he looked whiny yesterday, which was disappointing.
yeah agreed. i always thought Baker was handling it like a pro earlier in the Summer.
yesterday came out of nowhere. It will now be a topic the entire season and imagine a question about it every press conference now. Baker throws 3 TDs in a game and you bet some idiot reporter will take the positive momentum and now it's negative with a "Do you deserve an extension now etc") He could have put cold water on it one last time yesterday and instead ignited it.
Yes Baker, obviously a 2 year "Daniel Jones" type deal is disappointing...but you know what....so is your most recent play.
dude threw 14 TDs, 10 INTs in the last 11 games last year (3 of which came in one game), a catalyst for the monumental collapse and Bowles Derangement Symptom bros absolving Baker of any regression..."yeah but....wait....he had in ingrown toenail"
Dude was a bottom 12 QB during that span. Ranked 25th in passing yards, 17th in TDs, 31st in Interceptions, 24th in completion percentage, and 26th in yards per attempt. He flat out sucked...
and guys look no further than this thread that i started giving Baker Kudos
2023 - the expectations were low. We were supposed to be going back to Yuccaneers and Baker comes along, we have our most successful non-brady season since the 2002 Bucs, win a playoff game and Baker has his best season as a pro to that date. His numbers were hardly impressive but certainly the best of a non-Brady QB in Buccaneer history or close to it.
2024 - The expectations raised a little but boy did he deliver. Dominate....a top 10 franchise QB. Pissed down his leg in the playoffs with a game altering fumble in the 4th quarter..but none the less, a great season for Baker and his best to date
2025 - OK...now the expectations are sky high. We got ourselves " a dude".....he then starts commercials, a netflix "look at me" show, getting MVP talk, and plays hellen keller like " yeah but...injuries, lions, and bears on my" Flat out was mediocre to ass last year
so yeah, it was disappointing that he is giving this whole "woah is me" approach when you basically were the catalyst for turning us back into the Yuccaneers last year, pre Tom Brady
for those of you that are pounding the table to re-sign him, much like Licht, you are looking at the good he has done historically but football is a "what have you done for me lately" league.
Baker can get back to being "the dude" but being a little bitch about it isn't exactly what we want to see. Like he said, "the cost is only going to go up from here because im going to have a good season"
oh yeah Baker...well prove it dude. Would love to see it and get the Bucs back to the playoffs in a weak ass division. You are the best QB in that shit division, fucking act like it.
2 year deal isn't going to cut it when you gave him a 3 year deal preceding that offer. Had the Bucs offered a 3 or 4 year deal most of this drama would not have happened. If I was the Bucs FO I would offer a 3 year deal to re up him this year which is essentially a 2 year deal starting from 2027 onwards.
The reason why Mayfield is angry is that a 2 year deal signed this year when he is already under contract is in essence a 1 year deal from his view. He is already under contract and length of years is what matters to him. Bucs FO is rarely going to give 4 or 5 year deal but a 3 year deal would have avoided all this drama.
A 2 year deal would have been meh but okay to offer once Mayfield was a FA next year but again the contract length matters to players more.
it if was only length as the issue, is Baker's agent retarded?
ok they insult you with 2 years, but you are fine on the average value per year....the Bucs aren't going to negotiate with themselves. So any non-retarded agent would say...we want 5 years...and then of course, you maybe meet in the middle at 3 or 4 years. Baker's camp didn't even go back to Bucs on that? malpractice.
it makes me think it was about the money as well....otherwise, Baker should get a new agent.
It was the length.
Understandable from Mayfields perspective but also fairly straight forward compromise.
Bowles Derangement Symptom bros absolving Baker of any regression..
You have to stop letting Biggs draft your (straw man) arguments lol
It could have been a two-year extension on top of the current deal.
After hearing the PC, I thought Mayfield was unprofessional. Prior this, I thought he was handling himself very well - unlike Vea requesting a trade. He can be pissed about it, but airing all of that publicly was out of line. I thought he looked whiny yesterday, which was disappointing.
Correct.
If what I’m hearing is correct, it was essentially fully guaranteed.
Which means it would’ve been a 2-year extension on top of this year, which is fully guaranteed for $30M.
So, essentially, that’s 3 years for $130M+ that is FULLY guaranteed.
And, agree with you on the presser. Could’ve handled it better (which he had been up to that point).
2025 - OK...now the expectations are sky high.
expectations are the death of objectivity Mayfield may not consistently be 2024 but he's also not 8 games of 2025, no matter how much he failed relative to your internal expectations
Guaranteed money is not a factor or a fair compromise when a player like Mayfield is openly saying the contract length is insulting even if we were to assume it is a 2 year extension. Clowney on the other hand goes in the opposite direction and is okay to take one 1 deals because he views any contract as a 1 year deal. Both player view points are valid because they put the value of contracts based on their experiences.
Mayfield does not view guaranteed money as a commitment because it can be front loaded with roster bonuses so that is why contract length matters to him more. Other players like Brady are okay taking shorter 1 or 2 year deals if more guaranteed money is involved.
Licht's failure to understand Mayfield's position is the big take away from this.
Mayfield and Vea have every right to roast Licht for being socially unaware so Licht might be worse than Bowles in that regard. Both Bowles and Licht need to read the room aka show some social intelligence as their team captains are saying they are disrespected by the Bucs FO and the Bucs are coming off a mid season collapse from last year.
2025 - OK...now the expectations are sky high.
expectations are the death of objectivity Mayfield may not consistently be 2024 but he's also not 8 games of 2025, no matter how much he failed relative to your internal expectations
*11 games. he was mid to ass for 11 games.
but he was hurt in week 2...but playing good for the first 6 weeks....oh my....the injury excuse...good lord! what do we do?
and im sorry if starting 6-2 and finishing with a losing record and thinking that's unacceptable is having too high expectations
Mayfield has a point as he is not playing on another 3 year deal, 2 year extension or 2 year deal. The Bucs need to figure out if they want to keep Mayfield with a 4 year deal and it is clear they do not.
I would not be surprised if Mayfield takes the Mike Evans route, tries his best to ball out in his last year, and leave in FA next off season.
