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Quarterback Baker Mayfield can pocket another bonus if he can lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers past the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional Round.
Mayfield earned $250,000 in bonuses for the Buccaneers’ 32-9 Wild Card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Mayfield will earn another $250,000 bonus with a win in Detroit on January 21.
A 2022 free agent signee, Mayfield has a one-year $4 million deal with the Buccaneers, which has additional incentives. That includes both playing time and passing stat incentives plus the $250,000 per playoff win if he plays 75% of the snaps.
Playing with rib and ankle injuries, Mayfield completed 61.1% of his passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles. He became the first-ever Buccaneers quarterback to go over 300 yards and throw three touchdowns in a playoff game.
“He was sharp,” Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters afterward regarding Mayfield. “I mean, the whole game he was sharp. They dropped some balls but he kept coming back. He kept going to them.”
“He was putting the ball only in a place where they could catch it. He didn’t turn it over. They kept making play after play after play,” Bowles added.
Mayfield made touchdown throws of 56, 44, and 23 yards. He also had long completions of 24, 22, and 21 yards throughout the game.
Baker Mayfield: ‘We’re Very Different Than We Were’
Mayfield will look for more of the same in Detroit against a team that embarrassed the Buccaneers in the regular season, 20-6. He had one of his worst games of the season with a 51.4% completion rate, 206 yards, an interception, and a season-low 56.8 quarterback rating.
“When I just immediately think back about the Lions game, a lot of missed throws by me,” Mayfield told reporters after the game. “I think we had a lot of stuff there. Just didn’t play our best game offensively, so we’ll look back at the tape to get into the game plan stuff.”
“But we’re very different than we were early on in the year, and that’s something to be proud of that we continue to improve,” Mayfield said. “And we haven’t reinvented the wheel. We just stuck with it and gotten better at the little things.”
Baker Mayfield Keeps Playing Hurt Amid Victory Over Eagles
For Mayfield, the behind-the-scenes medical support has kept him playing amid late-season injuries, and the team even listed him as questionable for the Eagles game. Mayfield hurt his ankle in November followed by his rib injury in Week 17 against the New Orleans Saints.
“Just a lot of rehab and treatment. Got an unbelievable physiotherapist that has been flying in every week for six years now, so he came twice this week,” Mayfield said. “Your body is your product, and it’s like the one job you have to do is to get ready physically to be able to play.”
Recovery includes Mayfield getting his ribs stretched.
“Oh, I don’t know the science. I just let him do the work,” Mayfield said about his off-field medical care. “Yeah, a glutton for punishment and pain. It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.”
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