makes me think they were "low balling" him or giving him a slight bump on his 33.3M per year figure
This is not the Bucs, at least from what I can tell. They would probably want some discount off of $50 but thats a lot different then low balling or a slight bump from 33
Honestly if the Bucs are motivated to re up Mayfield this season to make it easier to re-sign the other players next off season then they will make a deal this year. But if Mayfield's camp is near the $50 mil mark and they will not budge then Licht and the FO will punt to next off season.
I think the Bucs FO and ownership are motivated to make a deal south of $50 mil but if Mayfield and his agent want to wait another season to play for that $50 mil that is their choice in the end.
Honestly if the Bucs are motivated to re up Mayfield this season to make it easier to re-sign the other players next off season then they will make a deal this year. But if Mayfield's camp is near the $50 mil mark and they will not budge then Licht and the FO will punt to next off season.
I think the Bucs FO and ownership are motivated to make a deal south of $50 mil but if Mayfield and his agent want to wait another season to play for that $50 mil that is their choice in the end.
to me, Baker doesn't have much to lose by waiting a year.
He was dogshit the second half of 2025 which is recent body of work and he knows that that level of play will get him a marginal raise on the $33M he's getting currently. So to be honest, i'd be concerned if Baker was willing to accept a 3-4 year deal at $40M annually (which would be the top limit) given his lackluster play. That would signal to me that he is not betting on himself to play better next year and he's content 2025 standards. So this is a positive that Baker camp is saying, nah, if you are going to hold me to 2025 play given my injury, i will show you what i capable of in 2026.
so this plays out 1 of 2 ways
70% chance Baker is who he is....under 30 TD guy but can be a .500 team, playoff contender with him. He earns a new contract in 2027 offseason but it's closer to the $40M per year then it is the $50M+ per year he seeks; thinking 3 year, 120M.
28% chance Baker is the 2024 guy and lights it up again, averaging 3 TDs per game, etc. Bucs win double digit games. This will get Baker that 50M plus he covets. Maybe a 5 year, $250M deal even!
2% chance Baker has a terrible season and Bucs decide...jeeze...yeah let's just start over. In this case, Bucs maybe win 5-6 games, Baker tosses maybe 1 TD per game with just as many INTs. Not a good look. Very low chance this happens but is it possible? Sure. This would be the only scenario where it backfires on him to not sign an extension now. Otherwise, he will get the same money Bucs are offering now that he can get in January 2027 basically as most likely/worst case scenario. And still has a good shot to earn more.
These %s are fluid so right now, im heavily viewing Baker as the guy he was in 2023 and 2025 more so than 2024; but that doesn't mean he can't be that guy; my confidence of him is just low clearly at this stage of the off-season.
SR's take
"As long as Mayfield is healthy – and having a healthy offensive line in front of him is important – I could see him put up similar numbers to his record-breaking 2024 season under Liam Coen with Zac Robinson now in charge. I think Robinson will have Mayfield get back to more short, rhythmic throws that led to his franchise-best 71.4% completion percentage in 2024, while throwing for career highs in touchdowns (41) and yards (4,500)."
"What made Mayfield really successful that year was having a strong running game to lean on and use play-action off of. Josh Grizzard leaned too heavily on gap scheme blocking last year and the Bucs’ run game became too predictable during the second half of the season as a result. The fact that Bucky Irving missed about half the season and the offensive line was a carousel of injuries didn’t help, either.
Expect Robinson to diversify Tampa Bay’s rushing attack in 2026 with more zone runs so it becomes less predictable. If the run game improves it will set up Mayfield to convert fewer third-and-long downs, which will help his completion percentage and result in longer drives that hopefully end in touchdowns rather than field goals."
AND THIS ON HIS CONTRACT:
"Mayfield is already in line to get a new deal worth $50 million per season. If he has a great season, that number could climb past $55 million per year."
SR's take
"As long as Mayfield is healthy – and having a healthy offensive line in front of him is important – I could see him put up similar numbers to his record-breaking 2024 season under Liam Coen with Zac Robinson now in charge. I think Robinson will have Mayfield get back to more short, rhythmic throws that led to his franchise-best 71.4% completion percentage in 2024, while throwing for career highs in touchdowns (41) and yards (4,500)."
"What made Mayfield really successful that year was having a strong running game to lean on and use play-action off of. Josh Grizzard leaned too heavily on gap scheme blocking last year and the Bucs’ run game became too predictable during the second half of the season as a result. The fact that Bucky Irving missed about half the season and the offensive line was a carousel of injuries didn’t help, either.
Expect Robinson to diversify Tampa Bay’s rushing attack in 2026 with more zone runs so it becomes less predictable. If the run game improves it will set up Mayfield to convert fewer third-and-long downs, which will help his completion percentage and result in longer drives that hopefully end in touchdowns rather than field goals."
AND THIS ON HIS CONTRACT:
"Mayfield is already in line to get a new deal worth $50 million per season. If he has a great season, that number could climb past $55 million per year."
no offense to SR/Pewter Report but they hadn't a clue in the Bowles situation when every other pundit was saying Bowles was safe back in week 16.
SR's take
"As long as Mayfield is healthy – and having a healthy offensive line in front of him is important – I could see him put up similar numbers to his record-breaking 2024 season under Liam Coen with Zac Robinson now in charge. I think Robinson will have Mayfield get back to more short, rhythmic throws that led to his franchise-best 71.4% completion percentage in 2024, while throwing for career highs in touchdowns (41) and yards (4,500)."
"What made Mayfield really successful that year was having a strong running game to lean on and use play-action off of. Josh Grizzard leaned too heavily on gap scheme blocking last year and the Bucs’ run game became too predictable during the second half of the season as a result. The fact that Bucky Irving missed about half the season and the offensive line was a carousel of injuries didn’t help, either.
Expect Robinson to diversify Tampa Bay’s rushing attack in 2026 with more zone runs so it becomes less predictable. If the run game improves it will set up Mayfield to convert fewer third-and-long downs, which will help his completion percentage and result in longer drives that hopefully end in touchdowns rather than field goals."
AND THIS ON HIS CONTRACT:
"Mayfield is already in line to get a new deal worth $50 million per season. If he has a great season, that number could climb past $55 million per year."
no offense to SR/Pewter Report but they hadn't a clue in the Bowles situation when every other pundit was saying Bowles was safe back in week 16.
do you mean SR/PR said he would be fired?
SR's take
"As long as Mayfield is healthy – and having a healthy offensive line in front of him is important – I could see him put up similar numbers to his record-breaking 2024 season under Liam Coen with Zac Robinson now in charge. I think Robinson will have Mayfield get back to more short, rhythmic throws that led to his franchise-best 71.4% completion percentage in 2024, while throwing for career highs in touchdowns (41) and yards (4,500)."
"What made Mayfield really successful that year was having a strong running game to lean on and use play-action off of. Josh Grizzard leaned too heavily on gap scheme blocking last year and the Bucs’ run game became too predictable during the second half of the season as a result. The fact that Bucky Irving missed about half the season and the offensive line was a carousel of injuries didn’t help, either.
Expect Robinson to diversify Tampa Bay’s rushing attack in 2026 with more zone runs so it becomes less predictable. If the run game improves it will set up Mayfield to convert fewer third-and-long downs, which will help his completion percentage and result in longer drives that hopefully end in touchdowns rather than field goals."
AND THIS ON HIS CONTRACT:
"Mayfield is already in line to get a new deal worth $50 million per season. If he has a great season, that number could climb past $55 million per year."
no offense to SR/Pewter Report but they hadn't a clue in the Bowles situation when every other pundit was saying Bowles was safe back in week 16.
do you mean SR/PR said he would be fired?
yeah they signaling/holding out hope well into nfl wild card weekend. I think even post some OC schedule interviews were suggesting even harbaugh may be on the table
to me, Baker doesn't have much to lose by waiting a year.
Well, considering he's under contract, he's not "waiting a year".
That being said, if he plays well, and the team still misses the playoffs; I wouldn't be shocked to see him in LA next season.
“They intend to re-sign him and get that extension done,” Schefter said of the Bucs and Mayfield.
“We’ll see if and when they can get it done, obviously he fell off a little bit at the end of the year last year. And maybe [the contract extension] would have been done sooner if that weren’t the case. But the fact of the matter is, they still believe in Baker Mayfield. They love Baker Mayfield. They want to have Baker Mayfield. And I believe these two sides will get this deal done.”
“They intend to re-sign him and get that extension done,” Schefter said of the Bucs and Mayfield.
“We’ll see if and when they can get it done, obviously he fell off a little bit at the end of the year last year. And maybe [the contract extension] would have been done sooner if that weren’t the case. But the fact of the matter is, they still believe in Baker Mayfield. They love Baker Mayfield. They want to have Baker Mayfield. And I believe these two sides will get this deal done.”
well yeah, the fall off is what concerns everyone including the Bucs brass as to why the extension will likely be done in Q1 2027 time frame.
i have faith in Baker. But not enough to prematurely sign him this summer. Bucs need to learn from their mistakes (i.e. premature Bowles extension and the team subsequently quits on him). As a Philadelphia Phillies fan, they did the same exact thing with their manager. A premature extension of Rob Thomson after 3 disappointing playoff exits in a row. Didn't make sense and now they fired him a month into the season.
But i digress, i do think Baker will be the quarterback of this team in 2027 but i think he will play this year out, betting on himself, and the Bucs will get a deal done with him next February. and they have the franchise tag available if he turns into Peyton Manning again and negotiating doesnt go as planned.
Even if Baker is the guy he was in 2023/2025, still good enough to be our starting QB and best in the division; but will be at a rate of 40,45M a year.
If he's 2024 guy, then yeah, hes looking at that 55M per year.
the fall off is what concerns everyone including the Bucs brass as to why the extension will likely be done in Q1 2027 time frame
You have a link to this?
the fall off is what concerns everyone including the Bucs brass as to why the extension will likely be done in Q1 2027 time frame
You have a link to this?
no link, just common sense; albeit as we saw last offseason they don't always go with common sense
would them not extending him prior to this season sort of support that notion? i mean if he's their guy, why not extend him now?
would them not extending him prior to this season sort of support that notion? i mean if he's their guy, why not extend him now?
Is it Week One yet?
i mean, if they know for sure he's the 2024 guy, why aren't think inking him to a 5 year, 250 deal right now....a no brainer
Baker would take that in a heart beat...and no...i dont have a link to Baker confirming that.