Baker Mayfield Rumors: Questions If Bucs Owner Wants to Pay QB a 'Tom Brady' Contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield are reportedly struggling to make progress on a long-term contract.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported there are concerns whether Bucs ownership is willing to pay Mayfield a salary similar to the one they paid Tom Brady. Tampa paid Brady $97.8 million over three seasons, and Mayfield is reportedly looking for a multiyear deal coming off the best season of his career.

If we use Brady's three-year haul as a base, Mayfield would be looking for a contract paying him around $32-33 million per season. While that's a lot of money for someone who was fighting for his NFL career a year ago, it would be on the low end for a veteran starting quarterback.

Geno Smith is the only projected starter playing on a veteran contract with an average annual salary of less than $30 million. Smith and Jared Goff are the only veteran starters whose contracts average less than $35 million.

Skepticism of Mayfield is more than understandable. It took him six NFL seasons to have his first 4,000-yard campaign, and even his best pro campaign put him in league-average starter territory. Any type of even minor regression, and the Bucs have hitched their wagon to a middling passer who doesn't make plays with his feet.

The New York Giants lavished Daniel Jones with a four-year, $160 million contract last offseason on the back of one good year and lived to regret it.

ESPN's Dan Graziano reported Mayfield is expected to have interest from teams beyond the Bucs if he does reach the open market. The Atlanta Falcons, who have been heavily linked to Kirk Cousins ahead of free agency, could wind up pivoting to Mayfield if Cousins returns to the Minnesota Vikings.

That said, the Bucs front office inked Mike Evans to a two-year deal with the idea of keeping him and Mayfield together. It's likely the two sides will come to terms on a contract before the start of free agency. Whether the team lives to regret that investment is another question entirely.