Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers are searching for common ground — this mock negotiation shows what a deal could look like
How do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield find middle ground for a contract? A to Z Sports put on their negotiating hats for a mock negotiation.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield are on the clock. The two sides are certainly hoping to find agreeable contract extension terms for a new deal. But we’re not there yet.
What would a successful deal look like? A to Z Sports’ Kyle Crabbs and Evan Winter each took a side of this standoff to hold a mock negotiation for the terms around Baker Mayfield’s next contract with the team. Here’s how things could play out and which parts are most improtant to either side of the table.
Finding the middle ground for a contract negotiation between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and QB Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay’s Initial Perspective
Let’s first start with this. We, absolutely, would like Baker Mayfield to continue to be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The challenge with this is, of course, the skyrocketing price of quarterback contracts across the NFL. It seems the standard threshold for entry into a conversation at quarterback starts in the mid-$50M range. So let’s just tackle a presentation of facts.
Baker Mayfield’s 95 passing touchdowns over the last two seasons ranks 2nd among all quarterbacks. But his 37 interceptions over the same period of time also ranks 2nd in the NFL. Baker’s passer rating during his three seasons with the Bucs (97.4) ranks 13th amongst all quarterbacks. The EPA/dropback (0.10) ranks 12th, too. Some things you just can’t measure, which we would include Baker’s leadership and toughness among.
We believe we can win a lot of football games with Baker Mayfield. But in order to remain competitive, we can ill-afford to see the quarterback salary balloon beyond a rate that lands him in a fair-market deal among his peers. We wouldn’t dare insult him with an offer that lands among names such as Daniel Jones or Deshaun Watson. Mayfield has been a much more productive and consistent player than either.
But we would like to keep him in or around the secondary tier of $50 million quarterbacks to prevent roster attrition from overwhelming the roster. Names such as Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts all make between $53M and $51M on an annual average perspective. This feels like an appropriate range to land with Baker, especially given the cap inflation.
Purdy, Hurts, and Goff all also secured between $100M and $113.6M guaranteed at signing. We’d like to offer Baker two years fully guaranteed. That plus a portion of his salary in Year 3 that is practically guaranteed and will fully guarantee at a later date.
FORMAL OFFER: 4-year, $208M contract extension, $104M guaranteed at signing, $25M of 2029 practically guaranteed (will fully guarantee in March of 2029)
Baker Mayfield’s Standpoint
This is a great starting point. We appreciate the recognition of not only what Baker means on the field, but what he means in the locker room and the intangibles. Let’s also not forget how several players have been on record stating they enjoy playing with Baker more than they did Tom Brady. That’s no slight to Brady, at all, it just ultimately underscores the strength of Baker’s bond with his teammates.
Back to the on-field discussion, because that’s what largely drives these negotiations. Don’t forget what Baker can do with his legs, as well. He’s ninth in total rushing yards (923) since 2023. His 5.2 yards per carry are better than guys named Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Jones himself.
A $52 million APY place him alongside Lamar Jackson and above Hurts, which makes sense. However, it places him below Purdy and when comparing the two’s availability (Purdy has missed 10 games over the last two years), we feel that Baker has the edge. Therefore, he deserves to match the $53 million per year average, at minimum.
Also, we’d like to up the $104 million at signing to $110 and bump up the 2029 trigger date to the fifth day of the new 2028 league year. This is a modest increase, yet it highly demonstrates Baker’s value at the level it needs to be at.
COUNTER-OFFER: 4-year, $212M contract extension, $110M gtd at signing with $25M of 2029 gtd on 5th day of the 2028 league year
Finding The Middle Ground
We have enough here to bridge the two sides, for certain. If Mayfield and his camp are interested in a higher annual average salary? We are willing to honor it at an incremental figure. There is merit to the durability critique for Purdy, although Mayfield playing while injured last season certainly effected his play.
So we’ll match at $53M annual average. The corresponding amount that is guaranteed at signing would be $53M on average in 2027 and 2028. That leaves $4M hanging in the balance of the Mayfield team’s ask for $110M GTD at signing.
To meet the ask, we’ll give $4M of Mayfield’s 2029 compensation guaranteed at salary. This appeases the ask about some securities in 2029. And as a compromise for our ask? We’d like to phase in the rest of the practical guarantees for 2029. $4 million at signing, and additional $6M of 2029 compensation guarantees in March of 2028, and the final $15M of practical guarantees for 2029 would guarantee in March of 2029.
This gives Mayfield the annual average and the guarantees he’s seeking, while still protecting the team long-term to have a reasonable buy-out opportunity after 2028 if things go awry.
AGREED TERMS: 4-year, $212M contract extension, $110M GTD at signing. $4M of 2029 salary fully-guaranteed, with an additional $6M of 2029 salary becoming guaranteed 5th day of the 2028 league year and $15M of additional 2029 salary becoming guaranteed on the 5th day of the 2029 league year
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