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The Los Angeles Rams have quarterback questions to answer this offseason. In a sign of the NFL’s business side, one former Rams quarterback – Baker Mayfield – is also facing questions before the offseason begins in earnest in March.
Mayfield’s Tamps Bay Buccaneers made the postseason for the second straight season with him at the helm, but they lost to the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card.
Mayfield is also poised to lose his offensive coordinator for a second straight season.
“[Liam] Coen could be offered the Jaguars head coaching job, possibly as early as Wednesday when he interviews for the second time with the club,” the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud wrote on January 21. “There’s a growing belief that it’s Coen’s job to lose.”
Mayfield jokingly said that suitors interested in Coen would have to take him (Mayfield) on “1-on-1” to get the coach, so the development looms as bad news for the QB.
Last offseason, ex-Bucs OC Dave Canales left to become the Carolina Panthers head coach.
Coen, who sandwiched his 2022 season as Rams OC between two stints at Kentucky, is a frontrunner to land the Jaguars’ head coaching vacancy.
Baker Mayfield Faces Another Potential Coaching Change in Post-Rams Life
GettyTampa Bay Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen talks with Baker Mayfield #6 during warms up before the game against the Carolina Panthers.
Mayfield spent the final five weeks of the 2022 regular season with the Rams, who claimed him after his release from the Panthers in December of that year. He replaced an injured Matthew Stafford, who was sidelined with a concussion and spinal cord contusion.
Mayfield signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Buccaneers in 2023, earning Pro Bowl honors under Canales.
He had more yards and touchdowns with a better completion percentage in 2024 with Coen.
If Coen leaves, Mayfield will have his fifth offensive coordinator since the start of the 2022 season. However, there is a history with the Buccaneers that suggests they could do what is necessary to retain Coen.
They previously moved Bruce Arians to the front office when Tom Brady retired to promote Todd Bowles to the head coach chair.
The Bucs also fired Lovie Smith to keep Dirk Koetter in 2016.
Baker Mayfield Could Follow in Matthew Stafford’s Footsteps Long-Term
GettyMatthew Stafford #9 and Baker Mayfield #17 of the Los Angeles Rams speak before a game against the Green Bay Packers.
Mayfield just finished Year 1 of a three-year, $100 million contract in Tampa. He will be an unrestricted free agent. That would align him with the end of Stafford’s four-year, $160 million pact.
Stafford’s potential retirement and reworked deal could alter the timeline.
Mayfield, 29, would be 33 by the time that scenario would play out. That is the same age Stafford was when the Rams acquired him in a trade with the Detroit Lions in 2021.
The Rams have 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett under contract for 2025 along with Stafford. They also have the No. 26 overall pick in the 2024 draft. There will also be several options on the market in free agency this offseason.
Each of those could pan out as a replacement for Stafford, who has not committed to 2025.
That could restart the process the Rams currently find themselves in if they fail to find a solution before then.
Likewise, Mayfield could be looking for stability with the frequent changes at offensive coordinator in Tampa. That is not an issue in LA with Sean McVay as Rams head coach. McVay could be the X factor since he too has flirted with retirement in recent seasons.
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