In 2023, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the summer with a giant question mark at the quarterback position.
After finding incredible success with Tom Brady during the final act of his NFL career, the Buccaneers were tasked with remaining relevant down the “GOAT,” with a former first-overall pick on his fourth team in as three years taking on a former second-round pick with just nine pass attempts on his resume up to that point.
In 2024, the Buccaneers enter the summer with an incumbent starter on a three-year, $100 million contract, and seemingly the entire franchise is behind seeing him succeed, even if technically, this isn't your usual second season in a developmental curve.
You see, after unlocking the “old” version of himself as a plucky game manager capable of a few big throws and nimble scrambles per game, Baker Mayfield will now be tasked with learning a new offense in his second season in Tampa Bay, reunited with his former Los Angeles Rams OC, Liam Coen, after the architect of the team's 2023 success, Dave Canales, left to head coach the Carolina Panthers. Now granted, Mayfield has played for Coen before, starting four games versus five appearances for the Rams in 2022, but he only attempted 129 passes for 850 yards and four touchdowns and led his team to a 1-3 record, which is a far cry from his 4,044 passing yard season over 17 starts last fall.
With plenty of continuity from a personal standpoint on the offensive side of the ball, Mayfield won't have to re-learn his offensive chemistry with Mike Evans or Chris Godwin, but how much will losing Canales impact the Heisman Trophy winner's offensive game? Will he continue to look like a major candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, or will he instead struggle like his time in Los Angeles, which is why he ended up only signing a one-year, $4 million prove-it deal after making almost four times that amount on his fifth-year option the year prior?
Last year, Mayfield proved he's still a starting quarterback in the NFL and deserves time to prove he can take a team to great heights on a fairly compensated contract. In 2024, the pressure is on for Mayfield to live up to that deal and become the sort of player fans in Cleveland expected when the Browns drafted him first overall.
Liam Coen believes the Buccaneers are Baker Mayfield's team
While the Buccaneers' ceiling in 2024 will be largely defined by how much magic Coen and Mayfield can make working together on Tampa Bay's offense, the former is very excited about their potential pairing, as he believes the Heisman Trophy winner is “the guy” heading into the future.
“There's not many days, I don't think, Baker wakes up and he doesn't have a chip on his left shoulder. But there is definitely a feeling that this is his team, and it's OK to fail. It's OK. Go out there and let it rip, and be yourself every single day, no matter what, because you're going to be the guy, and we believe in you. And I think that's something that, ultimately, he just hasn't really had the opportunity to have all that often in his career,” Liam Coen told reporters via NBC Sports.
“So, you definitely feel a calming confidence. But he's still the same guy. He's out there when we get on the grass talking smack and getting after it and just having fun with the guys. And I think that's ultimately what makes him a great leader, is because his best friends are the O-line.”
Coen also commented on the atmosphere he wants to cultivate in Tampa Bay as they transition away from the new Panthers head coach's offense to his own, as having a growth mindset is what's best for business moving forward.
“The atmosphere that we want to be able to establish in the meeting rooms is one of the players being the drivers of it,” Coen noted. “And, yes, we are installing and teaching a new offense. But he knows a lot of these things already, he's heard them, he's repped them. And so, him just taking it over — he has done a great job in the meeting-room setting of talking to some of the guys [and saying], ‘Hey man, make sure you're here.' And that's what we're trying to establish. And the confidence of throwing the football, I think, has been impressive thus far. We haven't had a ton of balls hit the ground and he's throwing it with a lot of confidence right now.”
In 2023, the Buccaneers were one of the more surprising teams in the NFL, rallying around Mayfield on a prove-it deal to not only win the NFC South but defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wildcard round. If the team can find similar success under Coen with Mayfield now locked up on a long-term deal, well, the future may be very bright in Tampa Bay indeed.
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