Baker Mayfield Credits Rams Experience for Revitalizing Him

Getty Baker Mayfield on January 8, 2023 in Seattle.

Is Baker Mayfield a new quarterback and man following his brief run with the Los Angeles Rams?

Mayfield reflected back on his “Rams House” experience with reporters via Zoom on Thursday, June 29 — which points to a revitalized former first overall pick.

Rams Gave Mayfield ‘Reset Button’

Ram fans know Mayfield arrived as the football equivalent of damaged goods.

He went from first round pick with the Cleveland Browns, to playoff quarterback, to being ousted twice in a span of four months during the 2022 season — by Carolina Panthers trade and then being released by the NFC South team.

The Rams tenure ended with Mayfield winning two games out of four appearances — snapping the Rams’ six-game slide against the Las Vegas Raiders on December 8 and then leading L.A. to the romp of the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day. Mayfield, though, credits the Rams experience for giving him a sense of fun on the football field.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It was the first time I had fun playing football in a few years,” Mayfield said of his Rams tenure, via the New York Post.

For Mayfield, the Rams experience also gave him an epiphany.

“It brought that feeling of having that success and really remembering what it was all about. Kind of hit the reset button for me,” he said.

Are Buccaneers Similar in Structure to the Rams?

Now, Mayfield is literally on a “prove it” deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He signed for only one year and is in a room with second rounder Kyle Trask — once thought of as the heir apparent to Tom Brady once Brady’s career wrapped up.

For Mayfield, this comes off as the fourth system since July 2022 that he’s had to learn. However, Mayfield shares that being around the Bucs and learning their offense hasn’t come with many wholesale changes.

“To be around a coach like Sean McVay and a bunch of other guys…to be around those guys and to be in that offense and now looking forward to being in Tampa because it’s a very similar system with our new offensive coordinator [David Canales],” Mayfield said.

Canales is the same man who reignited Geno Smith last season with the Seattle Seahawks as his QB coach. Smith went on to deliver his most astronomical statistics in what became a career-best season for him: 399 completions, 30 touchdowns, 4,282 yards and a 69.8 completion percentage — all career-highs for Smith.

Canales now gets his crack at continuing the momentum Mayfield has built from his brief period on the Rams. But overall, Mayfield has revealed he’s this with the Bucs:

“Revitalized,” Mayfield said about his mindset ahead of resuming the competition between he and Trask once training camp arrives. “I’m really excited and pumped up and just looking forward to the future.”

Already, Mayfield’s newest head coach Todd Bowles has taken a liking into what he’s seen so far out of Mayfield in what’s anticipated to be a well-scrutinized QB battle for 2023, saying on May 30 Mayfield brings “moxie” to the field per the Tampa Bay Times.