The Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield are on a contractual collision course. For now, Tampa Bay G.M. Jason Licht is treading lightly.
“We’ve had some discussions and we’ll continue to have some internal discussions and see, and try to bring this to closure one way or another,” Licht said regarding Mayfield’s contract in an interview with JP Peterson of FanStreamSports.com (via JoeBucsFan.com). “But no one wants to see Baker go anywhere, and no one’s worried about how Baker’s mindset is going to be. I’ve had conversations with him about that. He’s all about wanting to win. So he’s in a good place.”
The phrase “closure one way or another” seems fairly loaded. It means they’ll either get a deal done before Mayfield’s stated deadline of the launch of training camp, or they won’t. If they don’t, the clock will start ticking on Mayfield’s potential free agency.
“I respect Baker,” Licht said. “He’s free to say whatever he wants to say. And that’s the way he’s wired and I have nothing but love for Baker. I’ll keep all that stuff internal; I never use the media for [talking about negotiations].”
Licht didn’t rule out using the franchise tag to keep Mayfield in place for 2027. The last time his contract expired, after the 2023 season, the Buccaneers didn’t apply it. Mayfield re-signed with the Bucs.
The three-year, $100 million deal doesn’t properly reflect his current value, given the market. Whether the Bucs will meet his expectations remains to be seen.
For now, Mayfield has said the two sides are “not anywhere close.” If the gap isn’t bridged fairly soon, the Bucs may need to start making plans at the quarterback position in 2027 — and other teams should start thinking about whether they’ll pursue Mayfield.
Bucs Clips
There are issues for the Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield to work out on the business side, but there’s been no issues on the football side of things.
That was the message from head coach Todd Bowles on Thursday. Mayfield is heading into the final year of his contract with the Buccaneers and talks about an extension have been at a standstill, which led Mayfield to say that he won’t continue talks if a new deal isn’t in place at the start of training camp.
Bowles said there’s “absolutely no question” he wants Mayfield as the team’s long-term quarterback and that the off-field situation hasn’t impacted anything on the field.
“Baker’s a true pro,” Bowles said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “I don’t think there’s any disappointment whatsoever. I mean, he loves it here. We love him here. The contract stuff takes care of itself, whether it’s the quarterback or any other position that comes up — those things get worked out over time. You just concentrate on what we got to concentrate on, on the field, and he’s been great right there.”
There’s no guarantee that Mayfield will land the contract he wants with the Buccaneers, but making a compelling case for his value with his play isn’t going to do anything to hurt his cause.
The Buccaneers didn’t practice on Tuesday, by choice. They didn’t practice on Wednesday, not by choice.
“We gave them off Tuesday; Tuesday was their day off,” coach Todd Bowles said Thursday, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com. “Wednesday was by the league, because at the first practice we had too many guys on the ground, so they took a practice from us. So Wednesday was by their doing, Tuesday was already set in motion by our doing. And they cleaned it up after that. We understand. We aren’t trying to get anybody hurt. That was the basis of it.”
Bowles said “about three or four plays” created the issue.
“We’re trying to practice safety as well,” Bowles said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys trying to learn how to practice, but we cleaned that up and kind of took care of it.”
It’s not easy to get the players to dial it back — especially the ones that are trying to move from the 90-man roster to the final 53-man roster. Still, the team is responsible to keep things from going too far.
Even with periodic glitches, it’s not as bad as it used to be. Twenty years ago, contact was rampant in offseason workouts. To the point where some offensive linemen wanted to wear pads, since their shoulders were getting banged around by helmets.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said last month that the team expects running back Bucky Irving to return to action “sometime in the summer or fall” and things appear to be moving a little more quickly.
Multiple reporters at Thursday’s OTA practice session shared videos of Irving in uniform working in drills with the rest of the team. It is the first time that has happened at a practice open to the media since Irving had shoulder surgery early in the offseason.
Irving missed seven games last season and ended the year with 173 carries for 588 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 30 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bucs will wrap up their offseason program with next week’s minicamp.
The Buccaneers signed kicker B.T. Potter on Monday, the team announced.
In a corresponding move, the Bucs waived punter Aidan Laros.
Potter entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent, signing with the Steelers. He spent the 2023 preseason.
That is Potter’s only NFL experience.
He played collegiately at Clemson University (2018-22), appearing in 59 career games and converting 73-of-97 field-goal attempts (75.3 percent) and 234-of-235 extra-point attempts (99.6 percent) for a total of 453 kicking points. A two-time second-team All-ACC selection, Potter was also a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in 2022 after going 20-of-26 on field goals and 49-of-49 on extra points.
The Bucs signed Laros, an undrafted rookie, on May 12. He finished his career with two seasons at Kentucky after transferring from Charlotte, where he played two seasons. Laros began his career with one season at the University of Tennessee-Martin.
On Friday, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield made it clear that talks on a new contract are not going well. It remains to be seen whether that will change.
For now, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Mayfield’s representatives have not responded to the team’s opening offer.
Coupled with Mayfield’s comments, this means that Mayfield and company view the starting point as reflecting a bottom line that won’t be acceptable. So why bother to respond?
Here’s the problem. If Mayfield has a number in mind (and he clearly does), the initial position in response to the first offer will need to be sufficiently higher than the opener in order to get to the preferred ending spot via negotiation. So if Mayfield comes in with a number aimed at doing that and it leaks, Mayfield loses the P.R. war.
Mayfield’s current deal averages $33.3 million per year. He’s due $27 million in cash in 2026, with $5 million in available incentives. (There’s another $13 million that he’ll be paid in 2026, but that was earned in 2025. It pushes his 2026 base compensation to $40 million.)
The market currently tops out at $60 million per year for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (if we ignore the new-money average as to Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s latest contract). Where should Mayfield land between $33.3 million and $60 million?
On one hand, too many teams pay too much for quarterbacks. On the other hand, the market is the market.
It’s not Mayfield’s fault that Packers quarterback Jordan Love makes $55 million per year, or that Lions quarterback Jared Goff makes $53 million. (Or, for that matter, that the Dolphins paid quarterback Tua Tagovailoa $53.1 million per year.)
Where should Mayfield land? Apparently, the team’s opening offer points to a final offer that won’t be good enough.
The question becomes whether the Buccaneers would use the franchise tag on Mayfield in 2027. After he finished a one-year deal in 2023, the Bucs didn’t tag Mayfield. Other teams that were looking for a quarterback didn’t make a move. (Some should have.)
Mayfield is surely willing to bet on himself. And, for as much as the Buccaneers claim to love Mayfield, they need to back that up with something that better reflects his value. Or they’d better have a good plan for life without Baker in 2027.
Baker Mayfield’s take on his contract situation was the juiciest bit of information to come out of his first media session of the offseason, but he also had a chance to weigh in on a significant change to the team’s receiving corps.
Mike Evans left for the 49ers as a free agent and Mayfield said that there’s no way to sugarcoat that it is “disappointing to not have him back” for the 2026 season. Mayfield then pivoted to praising Chris Godwin’s leadership of a receiving corps and expressing confidence in a group that also includes Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson, and third-round pick Ted Hurst.
“To also have J-Mac, Chris and Emeka really, really healthy right now, feeling good — to lead those guys and just to watch the steps from Year 1 to Year 2 when it comes to Meck and Tez and watching them help Ted Hurst out as well,” Mayfield said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “There’s a lot of weapons in that room. And so when you lose a guy like that, you got to have a lot of people fill those shoes, not just one person and we have that.”
If the Bucs don’t sign Mayfield to an extension ahead of the season, his performance with that group of wideouts will likely determine whether there’s an appetite for continuing the relationship in Tampa. If that appetite does not develop, the Bucs could be looking at another significant change next offseason.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is entering the final year of his contract.
He has re-established himself as a starting quarterback, having played every game for the Buccaneers over the last three years, leading the team to a pair of division titles.
But what of the future?
Mayfield told reporters on Friday that negotiations with the Buccaneers are ongoing. But they aren’t necessarily going to his liking.
“First and foremost, regardless, we’ve built roots here in Tampa. We love the community, we love being here. They’ve embraced us. We enjoy being here and, obviously, are going to raise kids here,” Mayfield said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “But the contract stuff, it’s happening, it’s starting — talks and whatnot. But, not anywhere close to what we were thinking. So, would love to be here long-term, and as of right now, that’s not exactly the case. But I’m under contract for 2026. The guys in that locker room, the staff know that I’m still going to be me — I’m still going to do everything I can to help this team win a Super Bowl. To me, that’s the priority. Everything else will take care of itself.
“Obviously, yes, I would love to have a long-term deal done. But, they know my deadline — as soon as training camp starts, we’re not doing [anymore] contract stuff. It’s all ball. So, it’s not up to me when that gets done by. So, hopefully before that. If not, we’re still going to have a good year.”
Mayfield’s last deal was for three years and $100 million, putting him at an average annual value of $33.3 million. He’s currently set to count $39.975 million against the cap in 2026.
With offseason programs coming to an end, it stands to reason that the Buccaneers will try to work out a new deal with Mayfield and his representation over the coming weeks — particularly if Mayfield has a hard deadline of the start of training camp.
In 2024, 49ers receiver Mike Evans set a record in Tampa by becoming the first player with 11 straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons to start a career. That also tied the all-time record for consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, with Jerry Rice.
Injuries kept Evans from breaking the record in his twelfth and final season with the Buccaneers.
“Oh, it was super disappointing,” Evans told reporters on Thursday, via JoeBucsFan.com. “I’m extremely competitive and for me to not break that record, I thought I was going to be able to break it easy — how hungry I was going into that season.”
Injuries limited him to eight games in 2025 and 382 receiving yards. He could, in theory, still catch or pass Rice’s all-time record of 14 career 1,000-yard seasons.
“You know, in life, some things, it’s not going to go your way,” Evans said. “But I look at that injury as a blessing in disguise, because I’m feeling really fresh, feeling rejuvenated. I’m in a new spot, new change like I felt I needed. And I’m looking forward to get back.”
A first-round pick in 2014, Evans turns 33 in August. The question moving forward will be whether he can continue to perform at a high level, and ultimately for how long.
The Browns signed free agent defensive end Benton Whitley, the team announced on Thursday.
Whitley is officially in his third NFL season out of Holy Cross.
In 2025, he spent time on the Buccaneers’ practice squad but did not play a regular-season game.
The Rams originally signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and he spent time on their practice squad as a rookie.
He also has had stints with the Chiefs, Vikings and Giants.
Whitley, 27, has played six career games and has totaled a pass defensed and a fumble recovery. He has seen action on 16 defensive snaps and 74 on special teams in his career.
