Insider notes on Baker Mayfield’s contract: Latest on Buccaneers QB’s market value, future in Tampa

Where will Baker Mayfield be in 2024? Baker Mayfield is one of the better stories in the NFL this season. Sure to be a top contender for the league’s Comeback Player of the Year, the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick was on the outside looking in after the 2022 season.

Yet this year has breathed new life into Mayfield’s career, and he’s in line for a lucrative long-term contract. Will that contract be with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or another franchise?

Rewind to Mar. 2022. A little more than a year after Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns into the divisional round of the playoffs, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs by five points, the franchise announced the trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

You may remember that Watson was ruled out of every game with the Houston Texans during the 2021 season after allegations of sexual harassment were levied by more than two dozen women. Among the many goodies the Texans received in return for Watson were three first-round picks from Cleveland, ending the Browns career of Baker Mayfield.

Just months later, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers for a fifth-round draft pick. Mayfield would eventually win the Panthers starting job over Sam Darnold, but after starting 1-5, he was released by the franchise at his request, only to be claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams.

Mayfield played well for the Rams during the final month of the 2022 season and entered 2023 as an unrestricted free agent. There was a significant market for him during the free-agency period last March, but the teams who wanted to sign the quarterback were bringing him onto their roster strictly in a backup role.

Mayfield eventually took less money to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as they offered him the clearest path to a starting job. Even that wouldn’t be easy, as Mayfield battled former second-round pick Kyle Trask for the honors of leading the Bucs. Coach Todd Bowles announced that Mayfield won that starting job just before the Buccaneers' final preseason game.

It was the correct choice. Baker Mayfield helped lead the Bucs to a 9-8 record, good enough to win the NFC South title. He then orchestrated a beatdown of the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-9, during the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.

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Baker Mayfield will receive plenty of interest in free agency

Baker Mayfield: NFC Wild Card Playoffs - Philadelphia Eagles vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield takes the underdog Bucs to Detroit, where they meet the Detroit Lions, with the winner advancing to the NFC title game.

Mayfield put up career numbers this season, including completing 64.3% of his throws, 4,044 passing yards and 28 TDs. In doing so, he made himself a fortune and will sign a long-term contract this offseason, expected to be in the range of $40-45 million annually.

The market for Mayfield is going to be huge, with so many teams needing a quarterback, but will he stay in Tampa?

While the feeling is that the Buccaneers will be major suitors for Mayfield, sources close to the situation tell me there have been no contract talks between the franchise and Mayfield’s representatives.

Short of the Bucs slapping the franchise tag on the quarterback, Mayfield could eventually look back with glee at the day he was traded by the team that selected him with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.