The clock keeps ticking for the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield.
The Bucs are reportedly in “no rush” to extend Mayfield’s contract, which expires after the 2026 season. Mayfield has imposed a deadline for getting something done before the start of training camp.
The Buccaneers report for camp on July 28, only 19 days from now.
The problem seems to be simple to identify, anything but simple to solve. The market for veteran starting quarterbacks currently has a range of more than $40 million per year, from the low 20s to the mid 60s. Where does Mayfield land in that landscape?
While he’ll reportedly be getting $40 million this year (due to money that carried over from 2025), the APY remains $33.33 million. And the cash due this year under his contract is $27 million, with up to $5 million in incentives.
As we hear it, the Buccaneers believe they’ll offer Mayfield more than any other team would put on the table. They likely also believe that, when they move to their bottom-line position (probably just before July 28), Mayfield will take it.
And maybe he will. Sometimes, the bird in the hand — while not as big as Baker may like — is too large to let fly away. Especially since he’ll be carrying the risk of injury and sudden ineffectiveness through all 17 games of the 2026 season.
Mayfield, however, seems to be wired a little differently. He’s stubborn, in what some would say is a good way. He may stand on principle with this one, based on the fact that other quarterbacks with equal or lesser skills and abilities have cracked the $50 million APY threshold.
The Buccaneers may welcome this approach, confident that, whatever he does this season, they’ll still offer more than any other team.
That’s what happened after 2023, his first year in Tampa. Mayfield’s one-year deal expired, the Buccaneers didn’t use the franchise tag for 2024, and no one else made a serious play for his services. (Even though multiple teams should have.)
This time, the franchise tag (based on a 2026 cap number of $39.975 million), would be at least $47.97 million. If the Bucs win the Super Bowl or Mayfield becomes an MVP finalist, they’d be able to tag him for 2027.
But if Mayfield has a good-not-great year, and if the Bucs play it out with the same belief that they’ll offer him more than anyone else, here’s where Mayfield’s moxie can become a problem for the Bucs: he could take less from another team, just to prove a point.
And the one team that should be ready to make a move is the Steelers, where Mayfield’s mentality (and history with the Browns) would resonate with the fanbase in a big way.
If Mayfield goes, the Bucs would go back to the drawing board at quarterback. The other options currently on the roster are Jalon Daniels, Jake Browning, and Connor Bazelak.
So while it seems the Buccaneers have a plan, they need to account for the possibility that, if they make Mayfield play out the last year of his deal and don’t tag him, he could go elsewhere for less money — just to prove a point. And, based on the potential zeal with which he’s recruited, to embrace a team that truly wants him instead of a team that he may regard as being ambivalent about keeping him around.
Bucs Clips
The NFL is making a significant change to the offseason calendar for the 2027 season.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the free agent negotiating window will open on March 9 next year. That is the same date that the two-day window opened this year, but the change comes in how close it will be to the end of the Scouting Combine.
NFL teams will wrap up their examinations and interrogations of incoming prospects on March 8 in 2027, which moves the league away from having a week or so between the two events as they have in past years.
Under that setup, the Combine has always been rife with table-setting for free agency as agents and team executives are all in the same place with their minds on the same things. With that gap eliminated, there will likely be even more of that work being done in Indianapolis so that teams are ready to make moves right from the starting gun.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said early last month that he and the team were not close to an agreement on a new contract and that “we’re not doing contract stuff” after the start of training camp.
The Bucs report to camp on July 28 and there doesn’t appear to be much change in where things stand for Mayfield. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that “a lot of work needs to be done” before any agreement is reached with the quarterback.
That is also reportedly the case for defensive tackle Vita Vea, who did not participate in the team’s minicamp practices as he moves into the final year of his contract. Mayfield is in the third year of a three-year, $100 million deal while Vea is set to make $17 million during the 2026 season.
Garafolo adds that the Bucs feel “no rush” to wrap up negotiations with either player at the moment. That urgency could grow with the window before camp getting shorter, but it remains to be seen if all involved will find the middle ground needed to reach the finish line.
Mike Evans can still play.
That was never a question, even with the wide receiver turning 33 in August. The only question is: Can he stay healthy?
He has missed 12 games over the past two seasons for various injuries, including his first surgery last season for a broken collarbone.
The 49ers are betting on Evans doing just that, having signed him to a three-year, $42.4 million deal this offseason.
49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk told NFL Network that the six-time Pro Bowler looked even better than expected during offseason practices.
“Mike has been so impressive, and I feel like that’s saying so much because we were expecting so much,” Juszczyk told NFL Network, via joebucsfan.com. “Your expectations are already high, and I feel like he’s already exceeded that. He has been unguardable at practice. Red zone has been an absolute problem. He’s a great teammate. I think everyone has already enjoyed his presence so much. I think he’s going to be an incredible leader for the wide receivers room. It’s hard to imagine a better addition than Mike has been.”
Evans continues to build a Hall of Fame-worthy resume, with 866 catches for 13,052 yards and 108 touchdowns. He had career-lows in catches (30), yards (368) and touchdowns (three) because his injury last season limited him to a career-low eight games.
The clock keeps ticking for Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers to get a new deal done before Mayfield’s stated deadline of the start of training camp.
At his football camp in Oklahoma on Saturday, the topic of his contract came up during a session with reporters.
“I would love to be there,” Mayfield said, via a video posted on the SoonerScoop YouTube channel. “I think both sides want to get it done. Now it’s a matter of finding that middle ground and what makes both sides happy. . . .
“We fell in love with Tampa, and it’s a great place to raise kids and be around. So regardless of what happens, I think we’ll spend our offseasons there. Obviously, it’s a little brutally hot, but it’s good for training, but it’s — yeah, I want to be there long term. They treated me right, and it’s the first place I’ve gotten to that feels like Oklahoma when it comes down to football is football, how can they put you in the best position to have success on the field, and how can they give their resources to help you out? And so, it’s a great place.”
Two takeaways. One, the key question (as it usually is) regarding the negotiation is whether the two sides will move far enough from their positions to meet somewhere in the middle. That depends on where they are, and how much room they have to move.
Mayfield is entering the last season of a three-year, $100 million deal. Absent an extension (and a willingness by the Buccaneers to apply a franchise tag that would cost nearly $48 million in 2027), he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in March.
Second, by deciding to spend his offseasons in Tampa, he has entertained the possibility of spending his football seasons elsewhere.
That could be the key to getting the negotiations to a middle ground that Mayfield likes. Sometimes, a team will use a player’s apparent desire to stay put against him, by offering less than market value. To get fair value, Mayfield has to both know what his market is — and be willing to leave in order to get more than what the Buccaneers are willing to pay.
Former NFL running back Doug Martin died last October, after becoming unresponsive in the custody of Oakland, California police. Martin’s parents are now suing Oakland over Martin’s passing.
Via the San Francisco Chronicle, Martin’s parents filed a wrongful-death action in federal court on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that Oakland police used excessive force while detaining Martin.
The paramedic company, Falck Northern California, also was named as a defendant. Martin’s parents contends that first responders took too long to respond and failed to provide proper care.
Attorney John Burris told the Chronicle that an independent pathologist has concluded Martin likely died from “restrained asphyxia,” due to officers allegedly pushing his face into the floor and pressing on his back.
“You’d like to think that when police are called to a situation for somebody who is having a mental breakdown, the person doesn’t wind up dead,” Burris said.
Burris added that the official autopsy and toxicology report have not been released by the Alameda County coroner. Burris said he hopes the lawsuit will compel the authorities to disclose the information.
“The most important thing here is to find out what happened,” Burris said. “It’s not knowing that’s the difficult part for [Martin’s family].”
A first-round pick in 2012, Martin played six years for the Buccaneers and one for the Raiders. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2015.
Having won his first MVP award in 2025, quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off a year where he played some of the best football of his career.
But Stafford, who turned 38 in February, is clearly on the back nine of his career — if not the proverbial final few holes.
There was speculation that Stafford could retire after the 2025 season, but he put that to rest in his MVP acceptance speech. He and the Rams are now comfortable going year-to-year as it relates to Stafford continuing his career.
As Stafford gets older, he’s consulted with some of his former peers about potentially playing into his 40s: Tom Brady and Drew Brees.
He addressed that in a recent interview with Chris Long’s Green Light podcast.
“I talked to [Brady] a little bit, I’ve talked to Drew Brees a little bit about it as well,” Stafford said. “It is year-to-year because I think it’s fair to the team, I think it’s fair to me, my family — I don’t want to sit there and say, OK, 24 months from now, I’ve got to be ready to play another football season. I’m like, phew, that just seems like a lot. I know that I’m ready to play this year. And hopefully, I feel great at the end of next year, and I’m ready to play another one after that. And then maybe we just kind of keep going like that. But, committing to more than that feels a little bit daunting. And I think a little bit unfair to the team and myself.
“So, the last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension, and after one year be like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready to retire. I want to spend time with my family.’ And they’re sitting there with four years on the books and had a bunch of planning done that I was going to be around. I don’t want to play football not all the way in it, too, and just be half-assed leading it.”
Stafford added that the Rams’ brass has been great about the situation.
“But, yeah, I don’t know,” Stafford said. “I don’t know how far I want to play. I know I’m excited about playing this year and then we’ll see after that.”
Stafford added that he’s spent time talking with Brady in each of the last two offseasons. But one of his most notable conversations with Brees happened last year.
“I think one of the things that surprised me is, I was talking to Drew — this was before last season — and he was like, ‘How old are you, again?’ I was like, ‘I’m 37.’ He’s like, ‘You might have your best five years of your career coming up.’ And I was like, ‘Huh,’” Stafford said. “I never really thought about it that way. You’re taught as a player in this league it’s a young man’s game and the older you get, you’re just kind of doing everything you can to try to stay up to par with everybody else. And Drew saying that kind of lit a fire under me, and it give you a little bit of belief that maybe an old guy can go out there and spin it around a little bit.
“Obviously, last year was a successful year for our team and for myself. And just gives you a little bit of energy moving forward and hope that that continues.”
Stafford completed 65 percent of his passes last season, leading the league with 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns while throwing just eight interceptions. In the postseason, Stafford completed 55.5 percent of his throws for 936 yards with six touchdowns and one pick in three games.
For the first time since 1989, the Buccaneers have a new radio voice.
The Bucs announced that Tony Castricone is the team’s new radio play-by-play announcer. He succeeds Gene Deckerhoff, who served in the role from 1989 to 2025.
Castricone was previously the radio play-by-play announcer for the Washington Huskies football and men’s basketball teams.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime to be entrusted with this extremely rare opportunity and this one-of-a-kind role within this fantastic franchise,” Castricone said. “I’d like to thank the Glazer family and everyone I met with during the interview process for their confidence in my abilities and for allowing me to live out this dream. I’d also like to congratulate Gene Deckerhoff on an iconic 37-year run. There will never be another Gene, and I’ll miss hearing his larger-than-life voice on gamedays. The thought of following in his legendary footsteps is humbling and exhilarating. My family and I cannot wait to be Buccaneers, to be Floridians and to meet as many members of the Krewe as possible.”
The offseason programs around the league have largely wrapped up for 2026, with players and coaches around the league now experiencing some time off.
But training camps are just a few weeks away from opening.
The NFL announced the camp report dates for all 32 teams on Monday, with the first ones opening up in less than a month.
Below are the camp locations and report dates:
Arizona Cardinals: State Farm Stadium | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans 7/22
Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta Falcons Training Facility | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Baltimore Ravens: Under Armour Performance Center | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Buffalo Bills: St. John Fisher University | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Carolina Panthers: Bank of America Stadium | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/22
Chicago Bears: Halas Hall | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cincinnati Bengals: Paycor Stadium | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cleveland Browns: CrossCountry Mortgage Campus | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Dallas Cowboys: Marriott Residence Inn Oxnard | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Denver Broncos: Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans: 7/28
Detroit Lions: Meijer Performance Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Green Bay Packers: Lambeau Field | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Houston Texans: Houston Methodist Training Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Indianapolis Colts: Grand Park | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Jacksonville Jaguars: Miller Electric Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Kansas City Chiefs: Missouri Western State University | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Las Vegas Raiders: Intermountain Health Performance Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Chargers: The Bolt | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Rams: Loyola Marymount University | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/25
Miami Dolphins: Baptist Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Minnesota Vikings: TCO Performance Center | Rookies: 7/26 | Veterans: 7/28
New England Patriots: New Balance Athletics Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/24
New Orleans Saints: Ochsner Sports Performance Center | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Giants: Quest Diagnostics Training Center/The Greenbrier | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Jets: Athletic Health Jets Training Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Philadelphia Eagles: Jefferson Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Pittsburgh Steelers: Saint Vincent College | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
San Francisco 49ers: SAP Performance Facility | Rookies: 7/18 | Veterans: 7/25
Seattle Seahawks: Virginia Mason Athletic Center | Rookies: 7/17 | Veterans: 7/24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: AdventHealth Training Center | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Tennessee Titans: Vanderbilt Health Football Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Washington Commanders: Commanders Park | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
The NFL has announced the full list of joint practices that will take place during training camps this summer.
The first set of them will take place on August 11 in four different locations. The Cowboys and Rams will practice in Los Angeles, the Colts will visit the Patriots, the Bucs will work out at the Jets’ facility and the Titans will go to Santa Clara to practice with the 49ers.
All in all, there will be 28 teams working in joint sessions in August. The Lions, Steelers, Chiefs and Broncos are the teams that will not hold joint practices.
The full list of joint practices is below with the host team listed second. If there are multiple practices scheduled, the date of the first practice is listed.
August 11 — Cowboys-Rams; Colts-Patriots; Buccaneers-Jets; Titans-49ers.
August 12 — Dolphins-Commanders.
August 13 — Jaguars-Saints.
August 18 — 49ers-Chargers; Raiders-Texans; Saints-Cowboys.
August 19 — Falcons-Colts; Ravens-Vikings; Panthers-Jaguars; Eagles-Patriots.
August 20 — Bills-Browns; Bears-Bengals; Saints-Rams; Giants-Dolphins.
August 21 — Seahawks-Titans.
August 25 — Buccaneers-Jaguars.
August 26 — Cardinals-Packers; Texans-Panthers; Commanders-Ravens.
August 27 — Bears-Titans.
