The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit the mother lode when they signed quarterback Baker Mayfield to a 1-year, $3 million contract to be a fill-in starter after Tom Brady retired for the second time in as many years following the 2022 season.
Mayfield, a former No. 1 overall pick at the crossroads of his career when he signed, has been the gift that keeps on giving. He’s led the Buccaneers to back-to-back NFC South Division titles and made the first 2 Pro Bowls of his career.
He’s also been durable. Mayfield hasn’t missed a start in the last 2 seasons — 34 consecutive games — and is still a bargain for the Buccaneers in comparison to other, ahem, less-performing NFL quarterbacks with the 3-year, $100 million contract he signed in March 2024.
In 2024, Mayfield was mostly brilliant while trying to make up for a sieve of a defense. He threw for career highs of 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns while rushing for a career high 378 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mayfield also took a lot of risks — too many sometimes —and led the NFL with 16 interceptions and 13 fumbles.
The Buccaneers have kept 2021 second round pick Kyle Trask as their backup for the last 4 years, but with Trask’s contract now up, they need to consider a new backup quarterback option — and with Mayfield constantly pushing his luck they might want someone with starting experience. Someone, maybe, like Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, a former No. 2 overall pick who heads into free agency after having resurrected his career in 2024 and could be on a similar path to what Mayfield was before he got to Tampa Bay.
Wilson Becomes Attractive Free Agent QB
Wilson’s one season in Denver after a disastrous 3 seasons with the New York Jets proved a couple of things. First, it showed he could be a good teammate. That wasn’t totally certain after his time in New York. Second, it showed he could learn an uber-complicated offense like the one head coach Sean Payton installs.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks teams should not be scared about bringing Wilson in at this point.
“A first-round pick of the New York Jets in 2021, Wilson never established himself as a quality starter,” Knox wrote. “After watching Aaron Rodgers struggle in New York this season —while (Sam) Darnold shined in Minnesota —it’s fair to wonder how much Wilson’s environment hindered his development. Wilson performed well for the Denver Broncos in the preseason and still has a ton of untapped athletic upside.”
Calculating What Wilson Might Cost Buccaneers
If we’re trying to calculate what Wilson might cost the Buccaneers, the answer is: Not much.
Wilson just played out the final season of the 4-year, $35.1 million contract he signed with the Jets after the franchise drafted him out of BYU in 2021.
While Wilson’s value has gone up, it’s gone up to the extent that he will actually land another NFL contract somewhere. That was something very much in doubt after the Jets traded him to the Broncos along with a 2024 seventh round pick in exchange for a 2024 sixth round pick in April 2024.
Spotrac projects Wilson’s market value at a 1-year, $3 million contract. That’s about half of what the “high end” backup quarterbacks in the NFL are getting paid but still not too much of a leap from the 4-year, $5.5 million contract Trask just finished — although Wilson comes with 33 career NFL starts to zero for Trask.
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