On Monday March 11th, the NFL's 48-hour legal tampering period begins, setting the stage for contracts to be signed on Wednesday March 13th on the first official day of Free Agency. One of the players to keep an eye out for is Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, whose eventual signing could prove to be the first domino to fall in what will likely be a very active quarterback market over the course of the next few weeks.
After enjoying a career rejuvenation last year in Tampa Bay, which included a playoff win over the defending NFC Champions, a Pro Bowl nod, and a third-place finish in Comeback Player of the Year voting, Mayfield is now in position to command a big money deal. The question is, will it be the Buccaneers who are the ones who sign Mayfield to that big money deal?
“As of late Saturday, the Buccaneers and Mayfield remained in talks but hadn't progressed toward a deal,” writes ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. “Multiple teams I've spoken to over the weekend predict Mayfield and the Bucs will land on a three- or four-year deal at some point in the next few days. But this is a budgetary concern for Tampa Bay. Will the Glazer family, which paid the great Tom Brady $97.8 million over three seasons, be willing to pay Mayfield that kind of money … or more?”
Within the same article, ESPN's Dan Graziano provided some further context on the negotiations between Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
“Mayfield is going to have a market if Tampa Bay doesn't sign him before free agency opens,” according to Graziano. “The fact that the Bucs haven't re-signed him yet is a strong indicator that he doesn't believe they're the only team interested at his price point, which could exceed $40 million per year. If Cousins does stay in Minnesota, I believe the Falcons would look at Mayfield, and I don't think they'd be alone.”
Reading the tea leaves, this is what I'm gathering: The Bucs want Mayfield back, but not at that $40 million per year price point that Graziano mentions. As good as Mayfield was, and as much promise as there may be in a 28-year-old who was the #1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, that's a lot of cheddar to shell out for a guy who looked like he was on his way out of the NFL less than a year ago. Plus, paying Mayfield more than they paid Tom Brady feels slightly strange, even factoring in Brady's age at the time they inked him to that deal.
Is there actually another team willing to outbid Tampa Bay, or is Mayfield bluffing, hoping to up the Buccaneers offer? My gut tells me Mayfield likely winds up back in Tampa Bay with the returning Mike Evans to try to lead the Buccaneers to a four-peat in the NFC South.
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