Baker Mayfield has become one of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ easiest players to connect with, and some inside the building say that’s exactly why he’s fit so well.
That wasn’t always the image attached to him. Early in his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield was featured in a string of commercials that played up everyday frustrations - a busted circuit breaker, plumbing trouble, and a battle with a push lawn mower. The joke landed because there’s something naturally approachable about him, even with the swagger that has followed him throughout a career full of turbulence before he landed in Tampa Bay.
Now entering his fourth season with the Buccaneers, Mayfield has settled into a place that seems to match his personality. In a feature published Thursday by The Athletic’s Zak Keefer, several people in the organization described him as someone they connect with more easily than the franchise legend who delivered a Super Bowl title.
“I would never throw shade on Tom because I like my ring too much,” general manager Jason Licht said, referring to the Super Bowl LV championship Tom Brady helped bring the team in 2021, “but Baker is just more … relatable.”
That relatability shows up in the small stuff. Keefer’s reporting describes Mayfield as someone who’s happy to hang around teammates for video games or a beer at an event, but also as a player who puts real effort into taking care of the people around him. According to the story, he pays for teammates’ recovery sessions with his personal physiotherapist and spends time with them away from football, too.
For tackle Tristan Wirfs, Mayfield’s closest friend on the roster, the difference from Brady was obvious.
“Tom really didn’t do anything with us, because he couldn’t. Like, he couldn’t even go to dinner,” Wirfs said.
“Then Baker comes in, and the first day he’s here he asks me if I wanna grab a beer that night. I’m like, ‘This is sick!'”
That kind of easy connection has helped shape the Buccaneers’ chemistry, and it has shown up on the field as well. Mayfield threw 41 touchdowns in 2024, a number that reflects how comfortable he has become in this setting. It’s also helped create a locker room that seems ready to back him if things get heated - which, as the reporting notes, is more likely than not to start with Mayfield himself.
Licht said the fit works because the organization gave Mayfield room to be himself.
“He fits us,” Licht said, “because he came to a place where (head coach Todd Bowles) and the GM said, ‘Hey, be you.’”
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