One of the more surprising aspects of last season was seeing the resurgence of quarterback Baker Mayfield and his solid level of play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as he had his best season in the NFL. Having signed a one-year contract before this past season, he is now in contract talks for an extension with Tampa Bay to return with the team and according to Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht on The Rich Eisen show, they are eager to retain him.
“We definitely want Baker back, we're working through things right now,” Licht said. “You know the player always has an option too.”
“So it's got to work out for him, and we want to give him the respect of making the decision, what's best for him too. I know he wants to be here, I know we want him, it's just a matter of us trying to work through things,” Licht continued. “We always have to prepare for both scenarios. Hopefully we're not going down, you know, behind door number two. Hopefully we keep him with door number one, but you know I don't want to take anything for granted with him he's got to make a decision as well as we do.”
Been a long road for Mayfield before success with the Buccaneers
He was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2018 out of the University of Oklahoma and after four seasons, he would jump between two teams in the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams before ending up with Tampa Bay. Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns which are career-highs for the 28-year old to go along with 10 interceptions as he led the Buccaneers to an NFC South division-winning 9-8 record.
In the playoffs, they would upset the Philadelphia Eagles who made an appearance in the Super Bowl the season prior before losing to the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional round. While it was always going to be hard to follow in the foot steps of Tom Brady, Mayfield played well and now Licht is aiming to finalize terms before Monday which allows other teams to contact the star quarterback.
“Well ideally I’d like to do it before things open up on Monday but I mean if it has to go to there it doesn't necessarily mean that he's gone, I'd like to hope at least not, but we'd like to,” Licht said. “We're not going to press the panic button and neither are they, I'm sure, on their end to rush anything right now.”
As Tampa Bay also just recently signed star wide receiver and No. 1 target for Mayfield in Mike Evans, it seems like the Buccaneers are confident in the signal-caller to run it back for next season and improve off of an already exceptional year. Even Evans himself is sure about Mayfield as according to Rick Stroud, he believes the quarterback is “elite.”
“Me and Baker have a really good relationship. I think he’s an elite quarterback,” Evans said.
“Me and Baker have a really good relationship. I think he’s an elite quarterback,” Bucs WR Mike Evans said of Mayfield.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) March 8, 2024
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