Baker Mayfield Contract Talks Addressed by Bucs GM, Says Team's Feelings About QB 'Haven't Changed'

Even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't able to get a contract extension done with Baker Mayfield before his self-imposed deadline, the club remains high on him as their starting quarterback.

Speaking to reporters from training camp on Thursday, Bucs general manager Jason Licht explained their feelings "haven't changed" regarding Mayfield's standing.

"We think he is," Licht said about Mayfield being a franchise quarterback. "We love Baker. Our feelings for Baker haven't changed."

During his youth football camp in June, Mayfield revealed he set a deadline for the start of training camp to work out an extension with the Buccaneers and said at the time the two sides weren't "anywhere close" to an agreement.

Once the deadline passed, Greg Auman of Fox Sports reported on July 28 that Mayfield would play out the final year of his current contract.

Mayfield addressed the situation last week at Bucs camp, saying he felt "disrespected" by the organization before vowing to have a big year in 2026 to increase his price tag.

"If you've waited this long to pay your franchise quarterback, it's only going to get worse," he said. "… I'm going to have a big year."

Mayfield is entering the final season of a three-year, $100 million contract signed in March 2024. His $33.3 million average annual salary ranks 16th among all quarterbacks, sandwiched between Sam Darnold ($33.5 million) and Aaron Rodgers ($22.5 million).

Rodgers, Malik Willis, Jacoby Brissett, Kirk Cousins and Geno Smith are the only projected starting quarterbacks not on a rookie contract making less than Mayfield on a per-year basis.

Signing with the Bucs as a free agent in March 2023 helped resurrect Mayfield's career. He was coming off a rough 2022 split between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams in which he threw for 2,163 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 12 appearances.

Mayfield has averaged 4,079 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and completed 66.3 percent of his attempts in three seasons with Tampa. He led the team to division titles in 2023 and 2024.

The Bucs lost seven of their final nine games last season after a 6-2 start to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019.