{"id":346631,"date":"2026-06-06T16:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T11:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=346631"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T11:06:04","slug":"bucs-qb-baker-mayfield-not-anywhere-close-to-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/06\/bucs-qb-baker-mayfield-not-anywhere-close-to-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucs, QB Baker Mayfield &#8216;Not Anywhere Close&#8217; To Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The clock is ticking on a contract extension for Buccaneers quarterback <strong>Baker Mayfield<\/strong>. Entering the last 12 months of his deal, Mayfield told reporters on Friday that he and the team are<em> \u201cn<\/em><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><em>ot anywhere close\u201d<\/em> to an agreement (via <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFLSTROUD\/status\/2062909100183163250\">Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times<\/a>). Mayfield added that he has set a negotiating deadline for the beginning of coaching camp in late July.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/07\/USATSI_24996130-scaled.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><em>\u201cWould like to be here long run but as of at once that\u2019s not precisely the case,\u201d<\/em> Mayfield said. <em>\u201cBut I\u2019m under contract for 2026. The fellows in that locker room, the staff know that I\u2019m still gonna be me. I\u2019m still going to do all the pieces I can to assist this team win a Super Bowl. To me that\u2019s the priority. The whole lot else will deal with itself. \u201c<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mayfield entered the NFL in 2018 with the Browns, who drafted the Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner first overall in a category that included 4 other first-round signal-callers: <strong>Sam Darnold<\/strong> (No. 3, Jets), <strong>Josh Allen<\/strong> (No. 7, Bills), <strong>Josh Rosen<\/strong> (No. 10, Cardinals) and <strong>Lamar Jackson<\/strong> (No. 32, Ravens). After an up-and-down 4 years with the Browns, Mayfield\u2019s stock dropped further in a half-season in Carolina in 2022. The Panthers had each Mayfield and Darnold on their roster that 12 months, but neither panned out for them. They waived Mayfield in late December, and he went on to complete the season with the Rams after they claimed him.<\/p>\n<p>Mayfield\u2019s performance improved in Los Angeles, where he made 4 starts filling in for an injured <strong>Matthew Stafford<\/strong>. Nevertheless, with Stafford entrenched because the Rams\u2019 top QB, it was obvious Mayfield would must look elsewhere if he wanted a likelihood to begin in 2023. That led him to Tampa Bay on a one-year, $8.5MM pact, which turned out to be a steal for general manager <strong>Jason Licht<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-362699 size-medium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-208x300.jpg 208w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-710x1024.jpg 710w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-768x1107.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-1066x1536.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-1421x2048.jpg 1421w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-900x1297.jpg 900w, https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25078570-scaled.jpg 1776w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mayfield beat out<strong> Kyle Trask<\/strong> for QB1 duties and went on to set profession highs in completion percentage (64.3), yards (4,044) and touchdowns (28, against 10 interceptions) over 17 starts. He earned Pro Bowl honors for the primary time and led the Buccaneers to a 9-8 record and an NFC South title. They crushed the Eagles within the wild-card round, 32-9, but bowed out the subsequent week in a 31-23 loss to Detroit within the divisional round.<\/p>\n<p>Convinced Mayfield was their answer under center, the Buccaneers prevented him from leaving in free agency with a three-year, $100MM extension in March 2024. Once more, he exceeded expectations in the primary season of the accord. Although Mayfield tossed too many picks (16), he made up for it by establishing latest profession highs in completion rate (71.4), yards (4,500), TDs (41) and passer rating (106.8). Mayfield made his second straight Pro Bowl, and the Buccaneers went 10-7 on their option to one other division title. Nevertheless, they may not get past the<strong> Jayden Daniels<\/strong>-led Commanders in a 23-20 wild-card round loss at home.<\/p>\n<p>The Buccaneers were the clear favorites to win the NFC South entering 2025, and it looked as in the event that they would coast to the crown during a 6-2 start. Mayfield was drawing MVP hype then, but a slew of injuries took their toll on the team within the second half of the season. The Buccaneers lost seven of their last nine and finished 8-9, which tied the Panthers and the Falcons for the very best record in a nasty division. However the Bucs lost the tiebreaker to the Panthers, who represented the NFC South within the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>After Mayfield accomplished 63.2% of passes for 3,693 yards, 26 TDs and 11 picks during his third straight 17-start 12 months in 2025, he&#8217;ll work with yet one more latest O-coordinator this season. The Buccaneers fired<strong> Josh Grizzard<\/strong> and replaced him with former Falcons OC <strong>Zac Robinson<\/strong>. He will likely be Mayfield\u2019s fourth play caller in as a few years in Tampa Bay, which had <strong>Dave Canales<\/strong> in place in the course of the signal-caller\u2019s first season there.<\/p>\n<p>Licht made it known last summer that the Buccaneers wanted to increase Mayfield. While that also hasn\u2019t happened, it stays a top priority for the team. Last July, the Buccaneers guaranteed $30MM of Mayfield\u2019s $40MM salary for 2026. A brand new deal should come at the next price, especially with the salary cap continuing to skyrocket. Eleven quarterbacks are averaging over $50MM per 12 months. The leader, the Cowboys\u2019 <strong>Dak Prescott<\/strong>, is earning a league-high $60MM every year.<\/p>\n<p>Prescott was 31 years old when he signed his extension, a four-year, $240MM\u00a0pact with $231MM in guarantees. Mayfield is similar age now as Prescott was when he re-upped with Dallas in September 2024. That doesn\u2019t mean Mayfield will do as well on his next contract, but as someone who ranks just sixteenth at his position in AAV, a raise is clearly so as. Due to Mayfield\u2019s self-imposed deadline, the Buccaneers are running out of time to make it occur.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The clock is ticking on a contract extension for Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Entering the last 12 months of his deal, Mayfield told reporters on Friday that he and the team are \u201cnot anywhere close\u201d to an agreement (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times). Mayfield added that he has set a negotiating deadline [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":346632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[7259,15296,516,2903,41967],"class_list":["post-346631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-baker","tag-bucs","tag-close","tag-extension","tag-mayfield"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346631"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346634,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346631\/revisions\/346634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}