The Tampa Bay Buccaneers locked Baker Mayfield in with the biggest contract in franchise history, but the early returns have been rough enough to make that deal look shaky fast.
After an offseason-long standoff, Tampa Bay handed Mayfield a three-year, $165 million extension. It doesn’t even begin until next year, and he’s now under contract through the 2029 season.
On paper, that’s a massive commitment. In practice, the first two games since the agreement have only raised more questions about whether the Buccaneers moved too soon.
Mayfield is one of only eight quarterbacks in the NFL making $55 million per year, which means the standard around him is no longer ordinary quarterback play. Tampa Bay paid him like a top-tier signal caller, and he’ll be judged that way from here on out.
So far in 2026, though, he has not played like it. He fumbled three times in the season opener, and those mistakes helped gift the Bengals 17 points in a game the Buccaneers lost by only six. Then in Week 2 against the Browns, he tossed an interception that can only be described as inexcusable and left several big plays on the field by sailing throws over open receivers.
That kind of accuracy issue, mixed with the turnovers, is exactly the sort of combination that can wreck a season before it really gets going. It also puts Tampa Bay in an uncomfortable spot: the front office had the chance to let Mayfield play out his contract year and revisit the conversation later, but instead chose the long-term bet before seeing how he would look this season.
There is an escape hatch if things keep going sideways. The deal is structured more like a two-year commitment with a team option for the third year, which gives Tampa Bay a possible out after the 2028 season.
Still, the timing of the extension makes the whole thing even more complicated. The Buccaneers may have tied themselves to Mayfield just as the next two quarterback draft classes are shaping up to be loaded. The 2027 and 2028 NFL Drafts are expected to be especially strong at the position, and that could matter a lot if Tampa Bay keeps sliding.
Among the names to know in the 2027 class are Dante Moore, Arch Manning and Darian Mensah. Trinidad Chambliss is also drawing attention, though some remain hesitant to stamp him as a first-round pick because he’ll turn 25 before his rookie year and is considered undersized by pro standards.
The 2028 group could be even better, with Drew Mestemaker, Kamario Taylor, and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele headlining that class.
That’s where the Buccaneers’ decision gets tricky. If they end up in position to draft a potential franchise quarterback over the next two years, Mayfield’s contract could make that kind of reset much harder to pull off. And given how Tampa Bay has played, a top-10 pick in 2027 isn’t out of the question.
Nobody is saying the Buccaneers signed up for this version of Mayfield. The sample size is still small, and there’s no reason to treat September like the final verdict. But with $165 million on the books and a wave of younger, cheaper quarterback talent potentially on the horizon, this contract is going to stay under the microscope until Mayfield starts playing at an elite level and turning those performances into wins.
In Other News...
Baker Mayfield And Todd Bowles Are Feeling Heat In Tampa Bay
Two losses to open the season have put the Buccaneers in an early hole, and the frustration was easy to hear after the latest setback against the Browns. Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield both pointed to the same problems in their postgame comments, with penalties, missed tackles and turnovers all dragging down a team that expected to look sharper out of the gate.
Minnesota is next, and the schedule is not offering much relief as Tampa Bay tries to steady itself before the situation gets any heavier. For Bowles, the challenge is cleaning up the operation quickly. For Mayfield, it is about finding answers under the kind of pressure that tends to grow fast when September starts slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Already Have A Costly Problem They Must Fix Fast
The home opener brought more frustration than relief, as the Buccaneers fell 23-19 to the Browns and slipped to 0-2 on the season. Tampa Bay had enough good moments to stay in the game, with Bucky Irving providing a spark on the ground and the run defense again holding up well, but the offense never found enough rhythm to overcome the mistakes piling up around it.
What stood out most was how the second-half pass defense unraveled, leaving the Bucs vulnerable when they needed to tighten things up. Baker Mayfields interception, along with penalties and missed tackles, made an already close game even harder to manage, and it left Tampa Bay with an early-season problem it cannot afford to ignore for long. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Already Have 3 Early Problems Fans Can't Ignore
The Buccaneers second loss of the season brought a few early warning signs into focus, and the biggest one sits on offense. Baker Mayfield and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson have not yet found the kind of rhythm Tampa Bay needs through the air, and the passing game looked short on answers again against Cleveland. For a team that has built much of its identity on staying competitive in tight games, that lack of consistency is hard to ignore this early in the year.
There were other problem spots, too, including a pass-rushing effort from Rueben Bain that didnt match expectations and a tackling day from linebacker Alex Anzalone that may put his role under more scrutiny. Chase McLaughlin was one of the few bright spots, handling his chances cleanly and drilling a 59-yard field goal that went down as the third-longest in team history, but even that kind of reliability only softens the bigger concern around how many issues the Buccaneers are already sorting through. [Read more 🡒]