SI
The magic number Mayfield is likely looking to eclipse is $50 million APY, or average per year. As it stands, Mayfield is the 16th-highest paid quarterback in the NFL, and 11 of those quarterbacks have eclipsed the $50 million mark. Spotrac estimates Mayfield's current market value at $53.6 million APY, which would put him tied for the seventh-highest paid QB in the league with the Detroit Lions' Jared Goff and the San Francisco 49ers' Brock Purdy.
I think $53M and some change is fair market value for Baker. I also think quite a bit of his poor performance the last part of the year was mainly due to an absolute abortion of an OC, injury, and the O-Line. I also am of the mindset that unless he's performing at an almost Hall of Fame level, then let him work his current contract out and then pay him what he's worth. I realize that's a risky proposition, but Baker's entire career has been a rollercoaster ride. No sense in overpaying if for some reason he performs like he did the 2nd half of last season.SI
The magic number Mayfield is likely looking to eclipse is $50 million APY, or average per year. As it stands, Mayfield is the 16th-highest paid quarterback in the NFL, and 11 of those quarterbacks have eclipsed the $50 million mark. Spotrac estimates Mayfield's current market value at $53.6 million APY, which would put him tied for the seventh-highest paid QB in the league with the Detroit Lions' Jared Goff and the San Francisco 49ers' Brock Purdy.
I also think quite a bit of his poor performance the last part of the year was mainly due to an absolute abortion of an OC, injury, and the O-Line.
Baker’s best games came with the same OC and Wirfs & Goedeke missing games both separately and together. His bad games came after Wirfs and Goedeke returned.
The injury thing is two sided because those come from his style of play. If he’s going to continue to play like that, he’s going to continue to get injured. The last two thirds of the season, he missed plays that were there to be made. Was that because of injuries or because the inconsistent Mayfield returned? We all hope it was the injury, but we shall see. Either way, he’ll need to play smarter.
because the inconsistent Mayfield returned?
the one who didnt have deep balls in his "wheelhouse?"
I think $53M and some change is fair market value for Baker.
If it is then they are likely to reach some deal. again, both want a deal so there is a middle gound
Fair contrast. However, I will point out that the same OC got inherently worse as the season progressed to the point the offense became both stale and predictable. And even though Wirfs and Goedeke both were back, that does NOT mean they were both at 100%. I will stick by my reasoning but you raise a really good argument point.I also think quite a bit of his poor performance the last part of the year was mainly due to an absolute abortion of an OC, injury, and the O-Line.
Baker’s best games came with the same OC and Wirfs & Goedeke missing games both separately and together. His bad games came after Wirfs and Goedeke returned.
The injury thing is two sided because those come from his style of play. If he’s going to continue to play like that, he’s going to continue to get injured. The last two thirds of the season, he missed plays that were there to be made. Was that because of injuries or because the inconsistent Mayfield returned? We all hope it was the injury, but we shall see. Either way, he’ll need to play smarter.
Breer saying dont panic Bucs sign player in August and September
Also, sure, Mayfield can set that deadline. But are we to believe that if the Buccaneers were to put what he wants on the table in, say, late August, that he’d say no on principle? That question is not arbitrary—it’s relevant because of how Tampa has recently done business.
Last year, Tampa extended right tackle Luke Goedeke on Sept. 2 and cornerback Zyon McCollum on Sept. 5. The year before, they inked left tackle Tristan Wirfs to a monster, five-year, $140 million extension in early August. The one outlier here would be the deal they did with safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in May 2024, but that one had to be done earlier because of the rules surrounding the franchise tag.
I will point out that the same OC got inherently worse as the season progressed to the point the offense became both stale and predictable. And even though Wirfs and Goedeke both were back, that does NOT mean they were both at 100%. I will stick by my reasoning
Correct. Understandable focus on the QB, but he's not the story of the season and certainly not THE story of the late collapse.
An easy example would be the Falcons loss. Mayfield throws a critical interception late on a pass that likely seals the win BUT he is sacked 5 times with both Wirfs and Goedeke playing. Hes sacked 5 times with those two guys on the line because NEITHER is fully healthy and the interior of the line is Michael Jordan and Dan Feeney (and Grizz play calls)
That actual story of the game though is a defense that gives up 160 yards and 3 TDs to Pitts and, of course, a defense that cant stop 3rd and a mile.
And in the game we are intentionally kicking out the back of the end zone because the week prior the Saints had 138 yards on KO returns.
SO THE TEAM IS COLLAPSING AROUND MAYFIELD. hes not winning them on his own like earlier, but the team is falling apart.
You can see the panic set in the next week in Carolina. Same interior line has Mayfield under pressure (2 sacks and scrambles for 50 yards) BUT they are also FORCING the ball to Evans. And the critical INT is Evans turning back in scramble drill rather than continuing forward INTO OPEN SPACE.
Dolphins loss is all about their D line destroying our Oline of Chuck, Jordan and Feeney. Mayfield is sacked 3 times, scrambles for 3 runs (even though he cant really run) and fumbles twice. The Dolphins have something like 8 Tackles for a Loss. Irving runs for 2.1 ypc. Their D line MAULED our O-line, in our backfield all day long.
However, I will point out that the same OC got inherently worse as the season progressed to the point the offense became both stale and predictable.
The QB not playing as well had a pretty big hand in how the offense looked overall. The OC gave the QB quite a few plays to make, but he didn't.
I'm not really defending the OC. I was fine with moving on from him, but he wasn't as bad as many are saying. He has become Bowles' scapegoat and had to deal with the same OL injuries that people are giving Mayfield excuses for. And again, they won with those OL injuries when Mayfield played well.
And even though Wirfs and Goedeke both were back, that does NOT mean they were both at 100%.
Very few NFL players, if any, play at 100% after a month or so into the season. It's a rough game and these guys are, by and large, pretty tough.
I will stick by my reasoning but you raise a really good argument point.
Fair enough.
I will point out that the same OC got inherently worse as the season progressed to the point the offense became both stale and predictable. And even though Wirfs and Goedeke both were back, that does NOT mean they were both at 100%. I will stick by my reasoning
Correct. Understandable focus on the QB, but he's not the story of the season and certainly not THE story of the late collapse.
An easy example would be the Falcons loss. Mayfield throws a critical interception late on a pass that likely seals the win BUT he is sacked 5 times with both Wirfs and Goedeke playing. Hes sacked 5 times with those two guys on the line because NEITHER is fully healthy and the interior of the line is Michael Jordan and Dan Feeney (and Grizz play calls)
That actual story of the game though is a defense that gives up 160 yards and 3 TDs to Pitts and, of course, a defense that cant stop 3rd and a mile.
And in the game we are intentionally kicking out the back of the end zone because the week prior the Saints had 138 yards on KO returns.
SO THE TEAM IS COLLAPSING AROUND MAYFIELD. hes not winning them on his own like earlier, but the team is falling apart.
You can see the panic set in the next week in Carolina. Same interior line has Mayfield under pressure (2 sacks and scrambles for 50 yards) BUT they are also FORCING the ball to Evans. And the critical INT is Evans turning back in scramble drill rather than continuing forward INTO OPEN SPACE.
Dolphins loss is all about their D line destroying our Oline of Chuck, Jordan and Feeney. Mayfield is sacked 3 times, scrambles for 3 runs (even though he cant really run) and fumbles twice. The Dolphins have something like 8 Tackles for a Loss. Irving runs for 2.1 ypc. Their D line MAULED our O-line, in our backfield all day long.
while there is plenty of blame to go around for that historical collapse, Baker was indeed a major contributor. And that's something that the redboard here just sugar coasts or easily dismisses to the points that Biggs threw cold water on.
Even though Baker had a critical INT that should have led to 3 points and sealed the game for the Bucs in the Atlanta disaster, yes that one goes on the defense
but the 24-20 loss to Saints, 23-20 loss to Carolina, 20-17 loss to Miami; coupled with the defensive wins 16-14 over Carolina and 20-17 over Atlanta; it's hard not to fault the offense there. An offense that got all of their guys back (Evans, McMillian, Irving, Goedeke, Godwin, etc.) but down arguably the worst guy on the like in Ben Brederson and the Baker defenders just quickly say "Well we didnt have Ben Brederson"
We then blame the shit OC which again we all agree was not qualified but where was that blame when they put up 30+ against the Seahawks and 49ers in back to back weeks? Was our QB just playing better?
My argument is that he was the MAIN reason for the collapse. I have high expectations of Baker and he shit the bed.
Bowles should have been fired because he lost the locker room but that is the same locker room that includes Baker.
Baker was indeed a major contributor. And that's something that the redboard here just sugar coasts or easily dismisses to the points that Biggs threw cold water on.
Interesting discussion
For my part I am not sugar coating Mayfield I am trying to explain why we lost, in this case down the stretch. For example, we gave up almost 140 returns yards against the Saints, so you see the team go to kicking out the end zone the rest of the way. That is basically conceding a FG each game. We lost the games down the stretch by 4, 1, 3 and 3
But here just go down the list. We lose to Rams, sneak a win against the Cardinal and then its
1. Saints
2. Falcons
3. Panthers
4. Dolphins
(we win the last game against the Panthers)
So here you go:
Mayfield has a bad game against the Saints. Critical game. On Mayfield. (The games starts with a 50 yard KO return, IIRC)
Falcons game is the defense, right? 3 TDs to Pitts, 3rd and 28?
Panthers game Mayfield is almost 70% comp percentage. They dont throw the ball much. Evans turns back, Mayfield INT. Who is to blame?
Dolphins game Mayfield definitely has two bad picks but he throws 75% completions for 345 yards. He has two picks, but again, the story of that game is the Dolphins D line eating up our makeshift O line. Irving runs for 2.1 ypc. 8 TFL, I think. And TERRIBLE defense, Ewers has a 120 Rating (lol) throwing TDs to a back up TE no one ever heard of, Dulchcih has 5 receptions for 60 yards and a TD. That is LVD. Their RBs run for 145 yards
So, at worst Mayfield is a "major contributor" to 2 of the down the stretch losses? Do you agree?
The team collapse is not on the QB, he was unable to win in spite of a collapse of the Special Teams and Defense and with a OC who was fired.
if you stretch it to the season then you have to ask what was his contribution to Seattle win? Houston?
BUT how do you break down those 4 games?
back on the contract this is Florio's take
“I believe the Buccaneers think that at the end of the day they are going to offer Mayfield more than anyone else will, and [Mayfield will] take the bird in the hand in lieu of assuming the risk of injury during the 2026 season.”
