Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is on track to play out the last season of his three-year, $100MM contract in 2026. Mayfield said on June 5 that he and the team were “not anywhere close” to an extension. Almost two weeks later, the sides have not made any progress.
“Pretty much the same,” Mayfield said of his contract status on Tuesday (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).
Although Mayfield has never missed a game in his three-year tenure with the Buccaneers, Stroud reported last week that his health has been a concern in extension talks. Mayfield responded “defiantly” Tuesday, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine, saying: “I started every game last year … the last three years. I don’t know if that should ever be a question.”
While Mayfield is correct in pointing to his perfect attendance since he signed with Tampa Bay in 2023, the two-time Pro Bowler did not get through last season unscathed. Mayfield was in the MVP conversation during the Buccaneers’ 6-2 start, but the wheels came off for the Bucs in the second half of the season. It didn’t help that Mayfield suffered a low-grade AC joint sprain in his left shoulder in a Week 12 loss to the Rams. The 31-year-old played through it, but he threw almost as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns (nine) over the Buccaneers’ last seven games. They wound up with an 8-9 record that left them out of the postseason for the first time since 2019.
As he and the team look to bounce back this year, Mayfield has set a negotiating deadline for the start of training camp in July. That could change, but if Mayfield sticks to it, he and the Buccaneers have limited time to find common ground. Mayfield is averaging approximately $33.3MM on his current contract, which places him 16th at his position. Around the NFL, there are mixed opinions on how the former Brown, Panther and Ram will fare on his next deal.
“He’ll be 32 (if he hits free agency), he’s been injured, this will be his fifth team, is it? If he can get a coupla more years at $30 (million a year), he should take it,” one general manager told Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom:
On the other hand, Albert Breer of SI.com spoke with multiple agents who are far more bullish on Mayfield’s earning power. Those agents pointed to Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa and Brock Purdy as comps. Goff is averaging $53MM per annum on the four-year, $212MM extension he signed with the Lions in 2024. Tagovailoa signed for about the same as Goff that year (four years, $212.4MM), though the Dolphins pulled the plug on him this offseason and ate a record $99.2MM in dead money. Purdy is also in the $53MM-per-season club, having inked a five-year, $265MM pact last spring. All of those passers were under the age of 30 when they signed, though perhaps the ever-rising cap will help Mayfield vault into that class or do even better than them.
“If I’m Baker, I’m asking for 60 (per in new money),” an agent said to Breer.
An even $60MM salary would tie Mayfield with the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott for the second-highest figure in the league. Prescott was 31, the same age as Mayfield is now, when he reeled in a four-year, $240MM payday in September 2024. He was atop the mountain until three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes ($63.09MM per year) landed a mega extension with the Chiefs last week.
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