Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said that he felt disrespected and disappointed by the team’s offers to him this offseason. He told the team that he is done discussing contracts and is focusing on football now.
However, during his last run of discussing the deal, he told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN exactly why the deal did not come to fruition.
Added Bucs were ‘pretty far’ from $50+M per club, which he wanted to enter.
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Mayfield noted that the two things that were off were the money and length. The Bucs offered a two-year deal, when Mayfield valued the longer-term security behind the deal. Mayfield also said that the Bucs did not want him to make $50M per year, which he thought he was worth.
Being so far off at this point in the offseason could speak to why Mayfield was done hearing their offers.
Baker Mayfield Reveals Why He Was So Far From a Contract With Tampa Bay Buccaneers
GettyBaker Mayfield.
Mayfield noted that the most disappointing thing was that the team only offered him a two-year extension. The Bucs could give Mayfield the franchise tag for the next two seasons, so giving him that sort of extension is barely even long-term security for him.
Especially because the team could act to move after one year of the deal, and Mayfield would be in the same spot as he is this year after the 2027 season. For Mayfield, it makes sense to play out this year.
He could get franchise tagged, but it would effectively be half of the deal the Bucs offered anyway. If he sees that as a worst-case, accepting the Bucs’ offer does not seem great. In a best case, Mayfield plays well and earns a long-term deal, either with Tampa Bay or via a bidding war in free agency.
If Mayfield played well when he was on the two-year deal, the Bucs would want him to honor the last year of the deal, but he would knowingly be leaving money on the table. The only reason for him to accept the Bucs’ offer would be because he was afraid of injury or not playing well. That does not seem like something Mayfield would do.
Buccaneers Have The Right Decision Not to Overpay Mayfield
While Mayfield is looking at it through the lens of playing well, the Bucs have to protect themselves if he does not play well. If they lock him long term, and he has a bad season, they are going to want to get out of the deal immediately.
They saw just last year that Mayfield can start the season, but limp down the stretch. His play caused the team to start 6-3, but also was the main reason for the 2-6 finish.
Deals like Tua Tagovailoa have already aged poorly, and the team cannot be in a bad spot due to moving on from Mayfield early. Based on Mayfield asking for $50M, it would be hard for them to pay too much more if he has a good year. The Bucs could let it play out and then give him the deal he wanted after the year.
Baker Mayfield Reveals What Killed Buccaneers Extension Talks