Buccaneers Should Pay Baker Mayfield Big Money

The Buccaneers should pay Baker Mayfield top money. He bet on himself and took a discount to play in Tampa. Since then he delievered for the franchise. Now it is time to pay the man.

This all started last week when general manager Jason Licht said the team has been thrilled with Mayfield. And their plan is to keep him at quarterback for the long haul. Then, this week it was announced the team would guarantee every penny of the $30 million dollars it owes him in 2026. Previously, none of it had been guaranteed.

But wait a minute. Guaranteeing that money is great and all. But Mayfield is currently underpaid and now the team is locking him in to being woefully underpaid next year too? He will make less than .50 cents on the dollar compared to the $62 million dollars Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will make. And there are a handful of quarterbacks who have settled in with contrats paying them in the $55 million dollar range per year. That includes Miami's Tua Tagovailoa. Who would you rather have on your team? Tua or Baker?

The Buccaneers should pay Baker: Maybe guaranteeing next year's middle of the road salary is a step forward in a longer process. But it was surprising that the team said Baker Mayfield would be their long term QB in the future but then fail to turn next year's salary into a massive long term extension. He deserves one. He led them to the playoffs twice and he is becoming an elite thrower. At the very least he is a top ten QB in this league if not higher. He should be paid accordingly. He currently ranks 19th in QB salary. Mayfield is grouped with Geno Smith, Sam Darnold and Justin Fields. He's way better than those guys and should make lots more money.

Meanwhile Mayfied will continue to bet on himself as he prepares for the 2025 season. For the latest NFL talk and analysis tune in each weekday from 2-6pm to Craig Shemon and Company on ESPN Southwest Florida.