Former Bucs teammate gives massive praise to Baker Mayfield after leaving for Jaguars

NFL free agency is slowly trickling down, but there are still plenty of guys out there who can help teams improve from a season ago. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't been the most noteworthy this offseason, but they have made some splashes like re-signing core players such as Chris Godwin and Lavonte David and signing some guys from outside the franchise in Haason Reddick and Riley Dixon.

Much of the attention has been placed on the players the Bucs have either re-signed or brought in, but they also have seen players moving on to find new homes.

One of those players Tampa Bay will be without this upcoming season is backup center Robert Hainsey, who headed to Jacksonville to join former offensive coordinator Liam Coen with the Jaguars on a three-year, $21 million deal.

Hainsey spent four seasons in Tampa Bay after being drafted by the organization out of Notre Dame and started 35 games over that period. Throughout his tenure with the Bucs, Hainsey spent time with Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield as his quarterbacks.

In a one-on-one interview with the Jaguars after his signing, Hainsey spoke highly of being able to snap the ball and protect the greatest quarterback of all-time Tom Brady, but gave even more praise to Mayfield for helping change how he operates.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Robert Hainsey during the first quarter against the Carolina Panthers. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

“He’s the ultimate teammate,” Hainsey said. “He’s the ultimate competitor and I can’t really say enough good things about him because it was a blast to work with him. He changed my life a lot just because of the way he operates. It’s like, ok, he’s here to win, he’s here to compete. That’s what we’re all trying to do, but he brings it up every day. Always a constant reminder of what your mentality needs to be like when you’re walking into this building.”

While Brady and Mayfield might be completely different types of quarterbacks when it comes to their leadership style and demeanor on the field, the one thing that they have in common is that competitive fire to win. Brady is by far the standard for winning in this league, and while Hainsey unfortunately was a year late from the team's Super Bowl win, he was able to see how Brady handled himself before becoming acclimated with Mayfield.

Hainsey has plenty of experience over his four years in the league and will now get a chance to be a full-time starter for Jacksonville as he looks to protect and snap the ball to former number-one overall pick Trevor Lawrence. The Jags and their fans should be happy with the signing as Hainsey, while not the best center out there, is viable in both the run and pass game. He's also reliable, only receiving two holding penalties and three false starts over his 60 games of action and 35 starts.

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