Baker Mayfield earned a massive boost for Bucs' win over Panthers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't look the part of a playoff team on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, but they found a way to earn their third straight division title with a 9-0 win over the Carolina Panthers. While the offense struggled with Baker Mayfield at the helm, it was still a particularly glorious day for […]

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Jan 9, 2024 11:38 AM EST

While the offense struggled with Baker Mayfield at the helm, it was still a particularly glorious day for the Buccaneers' starting quarterback. With the Buccaneers clinching the NFC South, Mayfield earned a $1 million incentive bonus under his contract.

And yes, Baker Mayfield gets an extra $1 million for Bucs making the playoffs. Looks like he'll get $7.2 million including incentives, with the chance to get $250,000 for each playoff win.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 7, 2024

Mayfield has proven to be an absolute steal for what the Buccaneers paid him. The former first round pick threw for 4044 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Mayfield finished in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.

Mayfield agreed to a one year, $4 million contract with the Buccaneers on March 15, 2023. The deal provided for certain contract incentives throughout the season. Among them included $1 million for the Buccaneers making the playoffs. Specifically, it doubled his $1 million playing time bonus from $1 million of playing in at least 85% of snaps this season (he played in over 99%) to $2 million by making the playoffs.

Per Spotrac.com, Mayfield's contract incentives also included $300,000 bonuses for finishing in the top 10 in the NFL or top 5 in the NFC in the following categories: passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating. Mayfield finished in the top 10 for passing yards and passing touchdowns, earning $600,000 in the process. He finished 12th (6th in NFC) in passer rating, but that list includes three players who played in 8 or less games, so it's not clear if those players qualify or not, which would obviously affect whether Mayfield finishes in the top 10/5 under the terms of the contract and earns an additional $300,000. He also finished 13th (9th in NFC) in yards per attempt among quarterbacks with at least 15 games played.

Mayfield can also earn an additional $250,000 per playoff win in which he plays at least 85% of the snaps in each game.

As such, Mayfield was able to lock up quite the chunk of change in the Bucs' sputtering but successful finish to the season. Bucs fans hope that he and the Tampa Bay offense will be able to deliver a much more capable performance when they take on the Eagles on Monday night in the final game of Wild Card weekend.