NFL Insiders Speculate Baker Mayfield Landing With Buccaneers’ NFC South Rival
The 2024 NFL offseason is about to get fully underway now that the Kansas City Chiefs won their second Lombardi Trophy is as many seasons behind the prowess of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Unlike the Chiefs, many NFL franchises have some decisions to make when it comes to their quarterback position - including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Baker Mayfield served as the Buccaneers’ starting QB in 2023 on a one-year, team-friendly, prove-it deal that eventually saw him make $7 million following incentives after he helped lead the franchise to an NFC South crown and a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Now that the season is over it will come into question whether or not the Buccaneers’ organization and Mayfield can come to terms on a contract extension that is highly likely to yield the veteran QB a much bigger payday. Following the hiring of Liam Coen as the Bucs’ new OC and the words from Baker himself over the course of the week leading up to the Super Bowl there seems to be a high level of interest for both sides to reach an agreement for him to remain in Tampa Bay in the hopes of continuing what he built in year one.
However, there is always the likelihood that Baker could end up elsewhere if the price and fit are right, and NFL insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo, and Tom Pelissero believe that another team in the NFC South would be interested in Baker’s services.
“Coaches around the league admire Mayfield’s competitiveness and skill level, so he’ll surely have interest on the market -- perhaps even from AFC South-rival Atlanta, where former Rams assistants Raheem Morris and Zac Robinson are now in charge.”
Atlanta hasn’t quite figured out what they want to do at the QB position after experimenting with Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, and Taylor Heineke over the past couple of seasons and it doesn’t seem likely that the new guard at the coaching level are all keen on moving ahead with what they have. A player of Baker’s caliber would surely be an upgrade over Ridder at this point and would yield more positive results than not.
For the Buccaneers, this would be a gut punch.
If Mayfield were to decide to jump ship for the likes of the Falcons after everything they were able to provide one another in just a single season, not to mention the words being thrown about regarding his love for the city and how he finally feels comfortable, it would surely leave the Buccaneers with much larger issues to address over free agency.
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