Other Teams In The Market For Baker Mayfield?
March 2nd, 2024For those who worry about each nickel the Bucs spend under the NFL salary cap, this may be right up your alley.
In a recent segment of “The Insiders” seen on NFL+, Tom Pelissero, Steve Wyche and James Palmer discussed the immediate future of Bucs pending free agent quarterback Baker Mayfield.
It sure looks like Mayfield is coming back to Tampa Bay. Of course, until a player is under contract, he’s not under contract and anything can happen.
First, the trio tried to figure out Mayfield’s new salary.
“That’s going to be one of those mysteries, where that number lands,” said NFL insider Pelissero, who has been patrolling the NFL Scouting Combine all week.
“It is certainly going to be well north of the base that he got last season.”
Pelissero said the best thing for Mayfield, and not so good thing for the Bucs, is if there is a second (third?) team willing to get into a bidding war for Mayfield. Pelissero threw out the Dixie Chicks as a candidate.
Of course, Atlanta is rumored to be trading for Justin Fields. And Pelissero learned the Dixie Chicks trading up for a quarterback is a very real option at Flowery Branch.
Joe brought word that the team formerly known as the “Belicheats” is interested in Mayfield.
Joe wonders if Sean Payton and the Broncos are a potential suitor. They desperately need a quarterback and Mayfield seems to have the kind of personality that would endear himself to a hardarse like Payton.
Right now it looks likely for Baker Mayfield to return to the Bucs. But could the Falcons be in play?? We talk Baker's future with @tompelissero on #TheNFLReport pic.twitter.com/Dk0uM9uCzG
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) March 1, 2024
March 2nd, 2024 at 10:51 am
Licht has the franchise tag in his back pocket.
March 2nd, 2024 at 10:54 am
Negotiate simultaneously with Mayfield and Evans. Get one under contract. Then negotiate with the other and Winfield. The last man standing gets the tag.
Everyone is happy. Or somewhat happy.
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:11 am
Falcons trading up to draft a QB …. HOW many picks were traded for/wasted on Trey Lance, Sam Darnold, Zach Wilson, Bryce Young? People talk about it like the mere ACT of trading up and grabbing the guy is all you need to do–they mostly are busts
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:16 am
Evans aint coming back without Mayfield.
Sign Mayfield now. He may be worth alot more than we think, in a QB starved Market.
Let Evans get a price on the open market at 31 he ay be worth alot less than he thinks.
QBs win SuperBowls. Evans did accomplish anything but losing util Tom Brady came to town.
I love the guy and hope he comes back. But at 31 you cant let sentiment into contract negotiations.
He may be worth alot more in Tampa, than the rest of the League.
We can afford to find out.
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:17 am
He ain’t going anywhere. He alone makes our offense legit.
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:18 am
Sorry about the misspellings guys.
Ipad on the fritz, skipping letters.
Proof reading is your friend.
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:27 am
If he leaves, my concern is to the Falcons… They will be running a system Baker is familiar with and will be haunting the Bucs twice a year!
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:14 pm
I hope some team offers Mayfield more than the Bucs are willing to match. Mayfield went 1-6 in the middle of the season, and then couldn’t score a TD against the putrid Panthers. 9 points against the worst team in the worst division in the NFL is totally unacceptable. Plant HS could have beaten the Fleagles in the playoffs. The bottom line is this. The ONLY reason the Bucs made the playoffs is because our division sucks. We lost every single game to teams that had a winning record, in addition to the teams with a losing record. Don’t kill the cap for the next four or five years by signing Mayfield up to a monster contract. What he did wasn’t that impressive.
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Let him walk. The amount of dropped picks last year was insane. Every game I watched there were literally 3 dropped picks that hit the DBs in the numbers. And a horrible division, cake schedule and mike, his safety blanket but not a closer, evans.
Let him and mike walk. Get a journeyman qb, build the trenches and play like SF.
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:35 pm
one must wonder if evans will play with russell wilson as well as baker
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:38 pm
If Mayfield is signed this team will swim in mediocrity. This guy is mccown all over again. Not to mention the players we will miss out on signing because of cap hell. He does not raise the play of players around him and disappears for halves and intire games. What a mistake this would be. I just have no confidence in this inconsistent player.
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:40 pm
slide back down the threads to the last baker thread that got like 130 comments…
i wrote a take almost at the bottom of the comments to consider regarding wilson vs baker…
i’m sure teams are def considering it – as well as our front office as well
March 2nd, 2024 at 12:48 pm
@ Since76
“If Mayfield is signed this team will swim in mediocrity.”
Exactly.
People trying to argue and claim that Baker is an “elite” QB are total nitwits…
March 2nd, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Wilson would be an immediate upgrade over Baker for the SAME money. Im sure Mike would play with Wilson and he could have already mentioned him. The problem with this route is you still can’t bring in FAs. You have to rely on the draft to get better IMMEDIATELY. If they franchise tag Evans, it will be LESS than what he wants. Sign Winfield and Wirfs to long contracts. Let Baker test FA, because he is NOT gonna get what he wants.
If you lose him, that team will have overpaid for mediocrity. If it’s Atlanta, that helps the Bucs long term.
March 2nd, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Rinse and repeat, how many times can Joe write the same thing? New England is not going after Baker. They can draft one of the top three. Falcon’s will trade for Fields. Only owed 6 million next season. They aren’t throwing 40 million at Mayfield.
March 2nd, 2024 at 1:19 pm
@ Billy
I agree.
Wilson > Mayfield.
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:04 pm
I don’t really see the Bucs in a bidding war. They’re going to give Mayfield pretty close to their best offer before free agency. If that’s not good enough to keep him out of free agency, and someone comes in with a 45 million offer on March 11, it’s bye bye. Question is, what’s the backup plan? It’s not Trask. That excites nobody.
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:15 pm
I have several Longhorns in my family, so immediately I’m not supposed to be a Baker fan…But, Baker has won this locker room and they will fight like rabid dogs for that guy…Wilson has lost 2locker rooms, and the confidence of 3coaching staffs. There’s a tremendous value that’s not calculated on a spreadsheet for that (in)tangible.
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:26 pm
@1sparkybuc great take!
The details of the take is the other side that @Joe doesn’t ever mention in his takes about Baker. Would l like to resign Baker, yes I would. But for anything over 30 mil I’d rather see him get his money somewhere else. QB is the most important position on the field but if the QB isn’t the best player on team, doesn’t carry the team on their backs (Baker lost to all teams with a winning record last szn) & goes through majority of games not moving the ball and averages putting up 3 – 10 points through 3 qtrs of play, then there’s no reason to overpay & get into cap purgatory
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:39 pm
If the Falcons go and trade for Fields then it backs up everything I’ve been saying – Fields is the better QB and the market for Mayfield isn’t that hot.
I have no issues bringing back Baker for one year to see if he’ll improve, but the idea of a multi-year deal for a middling QB – no thanks. If the Bucs are going to be stuck with Baker, then do a franchise tag and see what happens, see if he can do better than 20th in scoring and 18th in QBR, then if he does, at that point talk a multiyear deal. But history says he’s going to revert back to what he’s been the rest of his career, and that is one of, if not THE worst QB in football. But, maybe I’m wrong, which is why I’d be OK with using the tag to find out. However, do not handicap the team with a middling QB on the big deal like we’re the Saints with Derek Carr — although Carr is consistently middling, where as Baker has to have a career year to be middling.
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:52 pm
@ Rod
I have the same reservations about re-signing Baker that you have – However – using the franchise tag on him makes zero sense to me.
Let him test the free agent market and get a more logical deal done that will allow the Bucs to bail after year 2…
If another team is dumb enough to sign Baker to a huge fully guaranteed $40M per season deal then let them make that mistake.
I hope it’s Atlanta – it would insure they a mediocre for the next four seasons.
March 2nd, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Love Baker’s mentality and leadership but just not excited about paying him $30m+. Throw in big $$$ to bring him and ME back and just have to wonder if we’ll ever get out of salary cap hell.
March 2nd, 2024 at 3:35 pm
Rod Munch Says:
March 2nd, 2024 at 2:39 pm
If the Falcons go and trade for Fields then it backs up everything I’ve been saying –
Nah. your first time being right in a year won’t come that easy
It would show that fields is cheaper than Baker nothing else. You got to study harder to break your trend for the wrong.
March 2nd, 2024 at 3:44 pm
Wilson> Mayfield
Lmfao.
Nether of you guys have watched football for the lat 3 years, have you?
Or read about Football?
If you believe Russell Wilson is better than just about anyone college QB, you have to have lived in a complete void.
Wilson, Who lead his team to a 73-0 loss?
A guy who Shaun Peyton is throwing out with the trash?
That Russell Wilson?
I didnt realize the different level of Posters here. I thought most had at leat a casual knowledge of Football.
Guess not.
March 2nd, 2024 at 4:00 pm
@ Capt tim
Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the varsity swim meet?
Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner?
Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear.
Every spring, the toilets explode.
It’s a close call but I still believe Wilson would beat out Baker in a head to head QB competition. Especially with the deeper throws that Baker always struggles with.
March 2nd, 2024 at 4:30 pm
I always get a chuckle out of some posts here.
Wilson WAS a better QB than Baker. Not sure how you can say that today given his recent past. Pete Carrol & Sean Payton both gave up on him, from far better run organizations than the Cleveland Clowns.
And Fields is a dynamic runner, passing not so much. Too bad (a) that has not translated to wins and (b) he is still the worst starting QB in the league in the 4th quarter. This past season he ranked 48th in the NFL (yes 48th out of 32 teams) in the 4th quarter.
I’m not saying Baker is a top 5 QB. He has shown he can be a top 10 talent. No one can predict how any player will play in the future (see the afore mentioned Wilson), so you have to take your best shot.
Baker’s team and the Bucs leadership with try their best to get a deal done that both can live with. From all indications that is what both sides want. And if that happens, and those two sides are happy, whether anyone here is, or not, doesn’t really count for much.
I hope they can come to an agreement, whatever that is.
March 2nd, 2024 at 4:59 pm
yeah but what if we can have wilson for say, 4 years at 20 mil while denver foots the bulk of his contract…??
then we have a ton of extra money to bring in talent and pay all of our talent…
and wilson will still be getting his huge salary…
something to consider, or at least realize a bunch of teams will be considering — if the broncos sever ties with him…
(see my post at the bottom area of that last big baker thread joe posted…with 130+ comments)
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:00 pm
wilson is going to choose his destination of choice as well…if the broncos set him free
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:04 pm
He’s definitely signing no other options however we lost Evans can’t afford both that’s the delay. He’s heading to Houston. It’s reality. Read their papers.
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:13 pm
@brooks:
why you lying about evans…
nothing in the papers says any of that…
drop links son !
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Bucsfan207 Says:
Baker lost to all teams with a winning record last szn)
what do you guys smoke to post the sam nonsense over and over again even though its been totall proven wrong?
Packers 9-8
saints 9-8
Hatorade. It rots the mind.
jaguars 9-8
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:57 pm
Beeej, what about Cleveland and Watson, LMFAO
Munch u suck and don’t know sht about anything, what is ur prediction for next yr. Let’s see, you said 4 & 13 last year, GFY
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:58 pm
Cle could have been a contender is not for Haslems stupid kids, WTF
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:03 pm
@ Tony
You forgot about the Eagles game?
@ Bucfan207
A more accurate statement would be – Baker Mayfield is a mediocre QB who had the best season of his career thanks to Mike Evens being in a contract year…
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:12 pm
Russell Wilson for 1.2 million next year, compared to Baker at 40 million? Neither is the future of the franchise. If the Bucs are truly in win now mode, take a pissed off Russ at the bargain price, and add some pieces with the extra loot. Draft another project QB, move on from Trask.
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:17 pm
@Tony Green Bay at the time was behind .500 at the the time of play, Saints was also below .500 at the time of play, and the Jaguars were coming off a 3 or 4 game losing streak – pretty accurate take
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:20 pm
@tony
Again he doesn’t carry the team on his back & definitely is not the best player on our team so idk how anything over 30+ is justified. The market will correct itself with the Bad QB contracts out there
March 2nd, 2024 at 7:57 pm
Where did this post go?
March 2nd, 2024 at 8:30 pm
At this point, I’d rather have $40 million worth of edge rushers and offensive lineman. Baker had a nice year, but let’s be careful with the purse strings. We were barely a .500 team and squeaked into the playoffs. Might as well roll with Trask and go into next season with bazillion in cap space.
March 2nd, 2024 at 8:31 pm
Marine Buc – I agree with you on letting Mayfield test the market, I’m just saying if the only options are a big real multi-year deal or a franchise tag, I’d just do the tag.
As for the market, if the Falcons do in fact trade for Fields, which the reports I’ve seen say is a done deal, then it means all the talk about Mayfield and the Falcons was a smoke screen to try to get Fields at a lower price.
That stinks the Bucs didn’t go that route. Fields cost like $6m this year, and next year on his 5th year option is still only around $20m I think – that would give the Bucs plenty of money to sign Evans, Winfield, David and they could probably add a center via FA, maybe even another TE or 3rd WR. Personally I think Fields is the better QB, still hasn’t hit his ceiling, and is dirt cheap for the next 2 years – that to me would easily be worth a 3rd rounder, perhaps even a 2nd.
March 2nd, 2024 at 8:38 pm
Has anyone asked Kyle’s agent about feelers from other teams? I read the Steelers like his Big Ben size.
March 2nd, 2024 at 8:49 pm
I think we have a lot more talent at WR than Evans. we have 3 that run under 4.5–4.4, 4.4 & 4.3. Evans 4.5. Speed kills and it seems they have less drops. I really hope he stays but if he doesn’t it’s not the end at all.
March 2nd, 2024 at 9:52 pm
Denver could be in play but does Sean Payton really believe Baker is an upgrade over Wilson?
Think it’s a toss up. Both Qbs have their pluses & minuses.
So unless age is a factor or personality differences with Wilson, don’t really see Baker as an upgrade.
^^mtn^^
Since ’76
March 2nd, 2024 at 10:53 pm
Hope that Baker gets a big deal with ATL and the group of Mayfield doubters gets to see him 2x in 2024 and thereafter. Mayfield has done nothing except represent Tampa very well post Brady. Moreover, he did it with the worst running game in the NFL and an interior O line that was suspect. It is pathetic reading the same posters who didn’t want Mayfield at any price who now are willing to pay him $30mill/yr. Baker will get bigger offers in free agency and he should take them. Can’t wait to hear the recriminations if Baker plays elsewhere in 2024. The Hate Brigade will just move on to Coach Bowles and work him over demanding that he walk the plank.
March 2nd, 2024 at 11:06 pm
Mayfield needs 2-3 guaranteed years. I wouldn’t want to guarantee any more than that. I think he’s a quality qb but I don’t know if he could win you a Super Bowl. So yeah I would like him to return but if he don’t then hopefully we suck bad for a year and go get us an elite athletic qb.
March 3rd, 2024 at 5:52 am
The latest rumor on media is that Baker was offered a deal by the Bucs, $120 million 3 years. However, it is just hearsay, no deal yet. Joe is correct, other teams are very interested in Baker. So there is so much going on behind closed doors.
It has to be a twofer deal, Baker and Evans both remaining with our Bucs.
March 3rd, 2024 at 8:34 am
Stay in win now mode while the division stinks.
Russ has been rejected by two coaches. Both were brilliant football minds just a few years ago. One was fired this year. The other looked ill equipped to adapt to todays game.
He’s gonna play for the best team that wants him next year on a contract so cheap that you could actually add talent instead of simply retaining what you have.
Keep swinging for the fences Jason!
March 3rd, 2024 at 8:48 am
Rod muncher …Fields is an 11-29 career record disaster. Dont talk to me about bad teams. Baker inherited a 1-31 record from Action Jackson i think coaching at a small college now. Trubisky the QB at Bears before him has a 39-33 career record. I wanted Baker to stay at Browns and Bring in Trubisky if Baker fails. Actually Trubisky would be a better not Baker option. What facts do you have to prove Justin is better?
March 3rd, 2024 at 8:51 am
Nobody knows if anybody can win a super bowl. Too many moving parts. Just take the best available player right now.
March 3rd, 2024 at 8:53 am
Jf is an 11-29 career record disaster. Dont talk to me about bad teams. Bman inherited a 1-31 record. i think The dood is coaching at a small college now. Truby the QB at Chi before him has a 39-33 career record. I wanted Bman to stay at cle and Bring in Truby if Bman fails. Actually Truby would be a better not Bman option.
March 3rd, 2024 at 8:55 am
Average in this years 6.85 m to the years of any proposed new deal.
March 3rd, 2024 at 9:01 am
Why does everyone want to save the Gla money who own two worldwide brand Footie clubs valued at 3.5 b? Why would you want to tank? That is not a fan but an enemy destroyer.
March 3rd, 2024 at 9:14 am
Chef Bakerid is average in Reg season and elite in p!ayoffs. A bunch of others are the opposite. A weak division is perfect for the Pillsbury dough boy.
March 3rd, 2024 at 10:35 am
Bucsfan207 Says:
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:17 pm
below .500 at the time of play, and the Jaguars were coming off a 3 or 4 game losing streak – pretty accurate take
utter rubbbish dumb take. so if a team goes 16-2 and wins the superbowl you never won against a good winning team because you won against them in game 2 ?
You guys a lot of the time are too dumb for words.
March 3rd, 2024 at 10:35 am
typo . thats 15-2
March 3rd, 2024 at 10:46 am
Rod Munch Says:
then it means all the talk about Mayfield and the Falcons was a smoke screen to try to get Fields at a lower price.
Good night. Go learn some NFl. Teams talk all available free agents Qbs when they need a QB. Thats not a smokescreen. Thats BAsic NFL 101. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fields goes to atlanta. Baker is widely considered to eventually re-sign with the BUcs. So why would Atlanta risk waiitng on a QB likely to not be avaialble and miss out on a trade? Like Ive said before hating just rots the brain.
March 3rd, 2024 at 5:43 pm
TO: Tony marks
Maybe you should go easier on your fellow commenters.
Go look at ‘Jason Licht Talks Kyle Trask’ March 2nd, 2024 comments to see where you were proven wrong. 😉
Respectfully yours,
^^mtn^^
Since ’76