The Buccaneers may be bracing for a stretch without Baker Mayfield, and the timeline could be longer than originally hoped.
According to Adam Schefter, Tampa Bay is privately worried Mayfield could miss as many as six games because of the dislocated thumb injury he suffered. The key issue now is simple: how fast can he get his grip strength back enough to throw the football again? Schefter said that process will take at least three weeks, and it could take longer.
Mayfield did avoid any additional damage beyond the initial dislocation, but he still needed stitches to close a wound tied to the injury.
With Mayfield sidelined, undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels has taken over the backup role and will start in Week 4 and for as long as Mayfield remains out.
Mayfield, 31, was originally the No. 1 overall pick by the Browns out of Oklahoma in 2018. He played the fourth year of his four-year, $32.68 million rookie contract, which came with a $21.85 million signing bonus, before Cleveland picked up his fifth-year option. That option would have cost the Browns $18.858 million fully guaranteed in 2022, but they instead traded him to the Panthers for a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.
Cleveland also agreed to pay $10.5 million of Mayfield’s salary, while Carolina handled the rest. The Panthers later released him during the season, and he was claimed off waivers by the Rams to finish out his contract in Los Angeles.
Mayfield then signed a one-year deal with Tampa Bay worth up to $8.5 million for the 2023 season, before landing a three-year, $100 million contract with the Buccaneers in 2024. Tampa Bay later added $30 million in guarantees to his contract for the 2026 season and then signed him to a three-year, $165 million extension right before the start of the season.
In 2026, Mayfield has played in three games and completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 615 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
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Baker Mayfield's Absence Just Put Tampa Bay's Season In Danger
Baker Mayfields thumb injury has pushed Tampa Bay into an early-season test it did not want, with the quarterback expected to miss at least three weeks while he recovers from a dislocated thumb. The injury does not require surgery, and the Buccaneers have not placed him on injured reserve, but his return will hinge on something as basic as whether he can grip the football well enough to play.
In the meantime, rookie Jalon Daniels is set to take over as Tampa Bay tries to dig out of a winless start. It is a precarious stretch for a team already searching for traction, because the timeline on Mayfields absence could stretch to six weeks and leave the Buccaneers navigating a longer spell without the player they had been counting on to steady the offense. [Read more 🡒]