Baker Mayfield’s latest contract standoff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has opened the door to a familiar concern: when things turn against him, the quarterback can turn the temperature up everywhere else.
The Bucs made offers that fell below the $50 million per season line, and with Mayfield now carrying the possibility of hitting free agency next year, the organization is left staring at a real risk with its most important player. That alone has plenty of Tampa Bay fans upset with Jason Licht and the team for not getting closer to market value for a franchise quarterback.
But the fallout hasn’t stopped at the numbers. Mayfield’s response after the negotiations has already created friction inside the building, with his comments putting the team on blast and suggesting locker-room unrest by insisting there was none when nobody had raised that issue in the first place. That kind of move has not landed well.
It also fits a pattern that has followed Mayfield before. When he feels slighted, he has a habit of using the media and his fan base as a weapon.
That played out with Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns, and it is still a sore point there. He also made blunt, easy-to-read remarks about Steve Wilks being the reason he did not stick with the Carolina Panthers.
Mayfield’s talent is not the question. The question is what comes with it.
He entered the league as a top draft pick and, nearly a decade later, has only two playoff wins. For plenty of quarterbacks, that résumé would bring a long list of demands to prove they are truly a franchise guy.
For Mayfield, the expectation from some corners seems to be different, even after a season in which he was the quarterback of one of the worst collapses in recent memory.
His track record in Cleveland only adds to the concern. There, he was accused of throwing teammates under the bus during contract talks while still being viewed as a leader. He made more noise for playing through injury and clashing with his coach and best wide receiver than for what he did after his one big moment against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now the Buccaneers are left hoping the contract situation pushes Mayfield forward rather than sending him down the same road again. The organization needs the negotiations to light a fire, not trigger another spiral like the ones that followed him in Cleveland and Charlotte.
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