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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to a three-year, $165 million contract extension with quarterback Baker Mayfield, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.
Mayfield, 31, joined the Buccaneers in 2023 on a one-year, $4 million deal. He was part of a quarterback competition with Kyle Trask and John Wolford to determine who would be the successor to Tom Brady, who retired following the 2022 season. After a competition that spanned the entire offseason and much of training camp, Mayfield was named the starter after the second preseason game in 2023.
Since earning the starting job, Mayfield has started all 17 games for the Bucs in each of the past three seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2023 and 2024, leading the team to the postseason in both years. The Bucs won the wild-card game in 2023 over the Philadelphia Eagles before falling 31-23 to the Detroit Lions in the divisional round. In 2024, Tampa Bay fell 23-20 in the wild-card round to the Washington Commanders.
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The 2025 season was a roller coaster for Mayfield. By mid-October, the Bucs were 5-1 and he was viewed as an early candidate for league MVP. However, the offense was decimated by injuries, and a 1-7 stretch through November and December not only sunk Mayfield’s MVP chances but also took the Bucs out of a playoff spot. The team finished 8-9, losing the division to the Carolina Panthers on a tiebreaker.
The marriage between the Bucs and Mayfield has been mutually beneficial. Before coming to Tampa Bay in 2023, Mayfield’s NFL career had started falling in the wrong direction. After the Cleveland Browns acquired Deshaun Watson in 2022, they traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers, despite Mayfield leading Cleveland to a postseason win in 2020.
The 2018 No. 1 pick went 1-5 as a starter with the Panthers before being granted his release in December. The Los Angeles Rams picked up Mayfield off of waivers after Matthew Stafford sustained an injury. Mayfield started four games for the Rams, going 1-3, to end the 2022 regular season. He signed with the Bucs a few months later.
When Mayfield spoke to reporters during Tampa Bay’s offseason workouts in early June, he said the two sides were having talks but that the conversations were “not anywhere close.” Despite that, Mayfield also spoke highly of his desire to stay in Tampa Bay.
“We’ve built roots here in Tampa. We love the community. We love being here,” Mayfield said. “They’ve embraced us, and we enjoy being here and obviously going to raise kids here.”
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