Troy Aikman is a 'Big Fan' of Buccaneers' Quarterback Baker Mayfield
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a risk when they signed quarterback Baker Mayfield this offseason.
Just last NFL season Mayfield was still on the same Cleveland Browns roster he landed on as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, but he'd go through quite the ride before winding up with the Buccaneers.
Traded from the Browns to the Carolina Panthers after they acquired quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans Mayfield found himself going from an inconsistent franchise to one in the early stages of total chaos.
Then, granted his release later in the year, he wound up with the Los Angeles Rams where coach Sean McVay said he was convinced Mayfield's future was brighter than most speculated.
Eventually, Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht, coach Todd Bowles, and offensive coordinator Dave Canales handed him the keys to the fate of at least one year with long-reaching ramifications tied to them.
17 regular season games, just over 4,000 passing yards, and 28 touchdown throws Mayfield helped earn the Bucs their third-straight NFC South Division title, a fourth-straight playoff appearance, and has convinced some he's capable of leading the team beyond this season.
Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman is among them.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) passes the ball against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, December 17, 2023, at Lambeau Field, Wis. Tampa Bay won the game, 34-20.
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
"I’m a huge fan of Baker’s. I’ve watched him since college [Oklahoma], and I’ve gotten to know him, and what I like is that from what I see when I watch him," Aikman said of Mayfield in an interview with the New York Post. "He’s at his best when he’s got a little chip on his shoulder and he’s got some swagger. He had that when he first got to Cleveland. We called the game on a Thursday night when he came in off the bench and brought them back [against the Jets in Week 3 of 2018] and won the game, and then things kind of went south shortly after the playoff year that he had. And he didn’t have it at the end in Cleveland, he didn’t have it in Carolina, he had it a little but in the short period of time with the Rams. But he made a bet on himself, and he’s exactly what [the Tampa Bay] organization needed because they were $80 million in dead money on the cap, and they needed a bargain price that would play like a top-10 quarterback this year. And voila! You’ve got Baker Mayfield, and that’s exactly what he did."
If Licht and Tampa Bay want to keep Mayfield around past this year it'll take some salary cap gymnastics.
After kicking the can down the road a bit to finance an attempt to win back-to-back Super Bowls the Bucs are faced with a second season of paying those invoices while trying to field a competitive roster on the field.
To Aikman's point, there were plenty ready to cast Mayfield onto the pile of washed-up quarterbacks and throw the Buccaneers as a competing franchise along with him.
That chip is what Mayfield has carried with him all season, through the ups and downs of the season, and it's the same one he'll bring into Monday night when Tampa Bay hosts the Philadelphia Eagles as 2.5-point home underdogs.
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