Entering the 2025 season, Baker Mayfield didn’t have any guarantees in the final year of his contract. Well, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to change that, giving him $30 million in guarantees this year, giving him even more incentive to thrive again this upcoming season. Mayfield is coming off the best season of his NFL career and as extension talks begin, the Bucs are, once again, making it clear how they feel about Mayfield.
The team is doing everything they can to not only incentivize Mayfield this year, but sweeten the deal and make it clear they want to keep him around long term. Mayfield hasn’t had this kind of love from a team before so it could be the type of positive reinforcement that actually works. Even when the Bucs extended him after the 2022 season.
His best seasons in the NFL have come in Tampa Bay with him eclipsing 4,000 passing yards in each of the last two seasons. They see value in keeping him, but more importantly, they are making it clear where they stand with him.
Baker Mayfield has every reason to thrive in 2025 season
Mayfield could easily plummet this season after being treated like the best quarterback to ever put on a Buccaneers uniform in the final year of his contract. Extension talks seem like they’ll be in his favor and everything seems great. It’s the type of situation where he could end up getting complacent. Sometimes having things laid out for you takes away your motivation.
But for Mayfield, he would prove nothing by “taking a year off” because the team has all but committed to him long term. He was supposed to be the savior of Cleveland football like all the other quarterbacks before him. That didn’t work out, they gave up on him and he needed to play for two more teams before landing in Tampa Bay.
Now that he’s here, they see the value in him and are doing everything they can to make sure he knows he’s their top choice. That’s why his gift back to them in yet another career season, proving to both the team and the league he wasn’t a bust.
Mayfield was written off after a frustrating end to his time in Cleveland. Now he has a chance at redemption. He wants to stay in Tampa and more importantly, Tampa wants him.