Buccaneers Make Good On Intention To Keep Team Together With New Baker Mayfield Contract

Even though the NFL's free agency period doesn't begin until noon, Monday when teams can begin negotiating with the players on other teams, this has already been an outstanding time for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because they've kept the Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans passing combination intact.

The Bucs on Sunday agreed to a three-year contract with Mayfield worth $100 million that includes $40 million fully guaranteed, a source confirmed to OutKick. ESPN was the first to report the agreement in principle on the deal.

The Bucs didn't officially confirm the deal but hinted at it with a tweet saying "the story isn't over yet."

Mayfield Gets Nice Deal, But Not Record Breaker

And while the deal does not rise to the heights of the record $50-plus million per season extensions signed last offseason by Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert, it accomplishes the same thing for both Mayfield and Bucs: 

It solidifies the future.

The Bucs have their quarterback. Mayfield has found a second contract and a home with a team that greatly values him.

The Bucs had signing Mayfield as their priority this offseason, according to general manager Jason Licht. Mayfield delivered a career high 28 touchdown passe,s with a career high 4,044 passing yards, and a career-high 64.3 completion percentage in 2023. 

But it was more than the career year that convinced the Bucs to run it back with Mayfield.

"Well, it didn't take long for me to realize just what a great dude he was and what a great teammate he was," Licht said recently. "As the season went on more and more, how important it was for him to set an example of what we’re trying to be as a team, and that’s a tough team, that endures adversity, but also a physical tone setter out on the field. 

"Typically, it's not a good recipe to have your quarterback trying to run over linebackers and be the tone setter, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. So, it’s a selfless nature of his."

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 21: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passes the ball against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on January 21, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Bucs Run It Back With Baker Mayfield

The Buccaneers won the NFC South and even won a wild card playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles with Mayfield in his first season on the team.

Mayfield will collect $30 million fully guaranteed in 2024. He'll get another $30 million in 2025, with 10 million of that fully guaranteed. The deal can reach $115 million based on incentive clauses each of the three years.

Not bad for a player who was on his third team in three years last offseason and signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Buccaneers because coach Todd Bowles believed liked him prior to the 2018 draft.

The Buccaneers are also celebrating because only last week they signed receiver Mike Evans to a two-year deal worth $52 million. Evans last year caught 79 passes for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Yeah, the Mayfield-Evans battery seemed worth keeping intact.

This, by the way, is bad news for other quarterback-needy teams. The Falcons were said to have some interest in Mayfield had their first option – adding Kirk Cousins – not worked out. Cousins has been negotiating with the Vikings but on Monday can begin discussions with the Falcons.

Now the Falcons just lost a fallback option as a division rival solidifies at the same position.

Something tells me that makes the Bucs quite satisfied.