NFL Rumors: Raiders' surprise QB target, Cowboys-Jets trade, Baker Mayfield contract

With the 2023 NFL season in the books, all signs point to the new league year coming up. That will be after the scouting combine once free agency commences. Every head-coaching vacancy has been filled, as have most of the coaching staffs. With the new league year rapidly approaching, it is time to prepare for anything and everything to happen. This includes trades, signings and crazy draft picks!

Today, we are going to look at a handful of teams who are all about making some big splashes this offseason. While it would serve the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to pay Baker Mayfield whatever he wants to remain their new franchise quarterback, it might cost the three-time defending NFC South champions a pretty penny or two. Mayfield was good in Tampa Bay, but he is not overly consistent.

Although the New York Jets' season ended when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week 1 of last year, the Dallas Cowboys' season ended when Dan Quinn's defense collapsed vs. the No. 7-seeded Green Bay Packers during Super Wild Card Weekend. Maybe they can help each other out with a trade. And finally, what if the Las Vegas Raiders are up to something when targeting a quarterback?

Here are the latest batch of NFL rumors to thoroughly enjoy while you enjoy your Presidents' Day.

NFL Rumors: What Baker Mayfield's Buccaneers contract could look like

One of the most fascinating quarterbacks hitting free agency is Baker Mayfield. The former No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma by the Cleveland Browns back in 2018 has bounced around the league a bit the last two seasons. After failing in Charlotte and having a cup of coffee as Matthew Stafford's backup on the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield really hit his stride playing for Todd Bowles in Tampa Bay.

He signed a one-year deal worth $4 million last year, but CBS' Jonathan Jones expects much more.

"It's possible, if not likely, the Buccaneers would value Mayfield more than any other NFL team. But that doesn't mean they can lowball him and run the risk of disrespecting the quarterback. A reasonable starting point, according to league sources, would be a tick above Geno Smith's three-year, $75 million deal with Seattle last year that allowed for a Seahawks out after one season."

Getting past a three-year, $75 million deal would be expensive, but maybe Tampa values him more?

"Either juicing up the average-annual-value or the guaranteed money would help position the deal as a win for Mayfield, who is coming off a playoff victory for Tampa Bay."

What I like about Mayfield in Tampa Bay is it just kind of works there. While losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales to the Carolina Panthers' job, getting Liam Coen to take over is huge for the Buccaneers' chances of retaining him. Coen spent the 2022 NFL season on Sean McVay's Rams staff. It was in this system that Mayfield really tapped into his fading potential as a starting quarterback.

Overall, Tampa Bay just needs to make the dollars make sense with Mayfield. The Buccaneers are too far back in the NFL Draft order to do better than him in the short-to-medium future. If they can get an early out in the deal like the Seattle Seahawks did in their new Geno Smith contract, that would be perfect. Weirdly, the two 1976 NFL expansion teams have their stop-gap starters of the future.

While Mayfield will have other suitors, odds are that no team values him more than Tampa Bay does.

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