The odds seem like they have always been against Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.
When he was a freshman walk on at Texas Tech in 2013 but was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. When Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury wouldn’t give him a scholarship so he walked on at Oklahoma.
When the Cleveland Browns selected him No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL draft then tossed him aside a few years later in favor of Deshaun Watson.
Finally, when the Buccaneers pulled him off the NFL backup quarterback scrap heap and gave him one last chance as a starter in 2023. Mayfield responded with consecutive Pro Bowl seasons and consecutive NFC South Division titles.
The point is, don’t ever count Mayfield out. ESPN’s Dan Graziano thinks that resiliency could very well lead to a “massive new contract” for Mayfield, who is in the second year of a 3-year, $100 million contract.
“After this year, Mayfield will have one year and $27 million left on his deal,” Graziano wrote on July 18. “He’s only 30 years old, and if he leads the Bucs to a fifth straight division title with yet another new offensive coordinator, you have to believe he’ll be in line for an even bigger extension this time around.”
We can almost use markers to judge how much Mayfield’s next deal will be. If the Buccaneers win another NFC South title and he wins a playoff game? That might land him around $45 million per year.
Do the unthinkable and make it to the Super Bowl? Now we’re talking $50 million per year and up.
ESPN Puts Mayfield Among Top 10 NFL QBs
ESPN cemented Mayfield’s status as one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks in its annual position rankings, placing him at No. 10 on the list headed into the 2025 season.
Mayfield joined the Buccaneers on a 1-year, $4 million contract before the 2023 season.
“The former No. 1 pick is emblematic of the NFL’s capacity for career resurgences at the game’s most important position, setting the blueprint for near busts to one day reach $100 million,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote. “When Mayfield signed a modest one-year deal with Tampa in 2023 and led the Bucs to the playoffs, it was a nice storyline about a former No. 1 pick regaining his footing. When he did it twice and his performance improved, that’s proof of concept.”
Parsing Super Bowl Hopes for Buccaneers
At least one NFL insider thinks the Buccaneers have what it takes to win the NFC.
The Athletic’s Jacob Robinson predicted Tampa Bay will be the NFC team who takes the field for Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“This year’s NFC winner isn’t the Eagles, Lions or Vikings,” Robinson wrote on July 17. “Instead, Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers represent the NFC in this year’s Super Bowl. A hot take? I’d like to think so. Reasonable? Definitely … a winnable division and one of the league’s easiest schedules should again position the Buccaneers to start the postseason at home. ”
Tampa Bay opens the 2025 regular season on September 7 on the road against the Atlanta Falcons.
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