Baker Mayfield got the contract extension he wanted, after all. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their quarterback are in agreement on a new three-year deal, according to ESPN and NFL Media, which ends one of the offseason's most high-profile contract standoffs. The three-year contract is reportedly worth $165 million, which makes its average annual value a whopping $55 million.
That salary places Mayfield in a tie for the third-highest-paid quarterback in the league, matching him with Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence and Matthew Stafford. The timing of the agreement is entirely surprising given that Mayfield and the Buccaneers had seemingly shut down their negotiations at the start of training camp. Mayfield made it clear that he wanted to have a deal in place by the time he reported to practice and said that he would not resume talks until after the 2026 season.
The parties seemingly continued to work toward a deal in the background, though, as they came to terms just in time for the start of the campaign. Mayfield was outwardly upset with the Buccaneers over their unwillingness to meet his demands by his deadline. "Disappointing in that regard to feel disrespected a little bit," Mayfield said at the start of camp.
"That's really the disappointing part of it ,is feeling undervalued after thinking you've earned it. This is not a 'poor me' thing. There's a lot of other people that have it way worse off, but I can sit here and look at other quarterbacks and peers and evaluate myself based on that and put myself in certain categories that I deserve to be compensated for.
I think I'm a franchise quarterback. I've been told I'm a franchise quarterback. It's been said publicly from ownership down here, and so to not have a deal done is very disappointing."
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