{"id":353185,"date":"2026-07-26T22:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/353185\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T22:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:52:09","slug":"baker-mayfield-contract-preferences-revealed-in-discussions-with-tampa-bay-buccaneers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/353185\/","title":{"rendered":"Baker Mayfield Contract Preferences Revealed in Discussions with Tampa Bay Buccaneers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> are in a contract stalemate with franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield<\/a>. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft is entering the final season of his three-year, $100 million contract. Negotiations this offseason haven\u2019t necessarily gone well. Both sides would prefer to reach a resolution before the season gets underway.<\/p>\n

Yet, if the Buccaneers\u2019 front office, led by general manager Jason Licht, can\u2019t see eye-to-eye with Mayfield and his agent on contract value, then what? <\/p>\n

Related: 6 NFL Stars Entering Crucial Contract Years in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mayfield Open to Franchise Tag from Bucs<\/p>\n

\"BakerJan 3, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) leaves the field after defeating the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say that Mayfield has earned some respect from the Buccaneers after arguably outplaying both of the contracts he\u2019s signed with them since 2023, earning the first two Pro Bowl nods of his career. <\/p>\n

Yet, for whatever reason, finding common ground at the negotiation table has been a far more difficult task for the Buccaneers and Mayfield. Known to be a fiery competitor, the 31-year-old has let it be known to ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler<\/a> that he wouldn\u2019t be afraid of playing out the 2027 season on the franchise tag, should contract talks with the Bucs break down. <\/p>\n

\u201cMayfield is on record saying he wants a new deal by training camp. So the Bucs need to make some progress here. They want to try to get something done. They are optimistic. But they\u2019re gonna have their limits. They probably won\u2019t give him everything he wants. However, the market is 11 quarterbacks make at least $50 million a year. Mayfield feels he\u2019s outplayed some of those players. He\u2019s got proof of concept in Tampa after three years. It\u2019s gonna take some financial concessions for Tampa to get this done. Also, Mayfield is not scared of the franchise tag. If he were to play this out and they were to tag him, it would be around $47-$48 million in 2027. That could be a route. This is a guy who\u2019s bet on himself before, he\u2019s not afraid to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler on Baker Mayfield<\/p>\n

As noted here: While Mayfield would prefer a long-term deal, he’s not afraid of the franchise tag, which would cost Tampa Bay at least $47M in 2027. https:\/\/t.co\/udBIhnvhTU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 26, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Mayfield has definitely played the best football of his career as a member of the Buccaneers. Will losing Mike Evans hurt his ability to produce on a consistent basis? The Buccaneers don\u2019t believe so, but no one will have the answers to that until the season gets rolling. Hopefully by that point this contract situation will have a resolution. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tDedicated NFL copywriter\/editor. My work has been found on Sportsnaut, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, MSN, Yahoo, and Minnesota Sports … More about Andrew Buller-Russ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a contract stalemate with franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield. The No. 1 overall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[9909,135,2964,137,136],"class_list":["post-353185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-baker-mayfield","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}