Bucs' Updated Salary Cap After Baker Mayfield, Vita Vea Contract Extensions

It has been a busy offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

ESPN's Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday the NFC South team and quarterback Baker Mayfield agreed to a three-year contract extension that means he will no longer be a free agent after the 2026 campaign.

According to Rapoport, it is a three-year extension worth $165 million overall and $55 million per year.

This comes after Schefter reported last month the Buccaneers agreed to a one-year, $30 million extension with defensive tackle Vita Vea that will keep him with the team for the next two seasons. It also gave him $6 million in new money for the 2026 campaign.

As of Tuesday, Over The Cap lists the Buccaneers with $11.3 million in team cap space.

Keeping Mayfield and Vea for multiple years and getting the deals done before the start of the season is quite a turnaround from what the offseason looked like not long ago in Tampa Bay:

As for Mayfield, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported "The sides weren't that far apart when talks broke off before training camp and, despite Mayfield's unhappiness with the Buccaneers' offer, he and his camp countered with short-term offers. After a long breath, the sides came back to the table and got a deal done."

In July, the quarterback told reporters he would no longer negotiate his contract until after the 2026 season. He also said he felt "disrespected a little bit" that he was "not presented with an offer that's appealing whatsoever."

He continued and said, "That's really the disappointing part—to feel undervalued after thinking you've earned it."

It turns out, Mayfield did earn a new contract.

In three years with Tampa Bay, the Oklahoma product was named to two Pro Bowls and led the team to back-to-back division titles during the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. He helped keep the team among the league's contenders in the post-Tom Brady era and threw for more than 4,000 yards in each of those division-title seasons.

Mayfield wasn't quite as individually excellent last season but still completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,693 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

With the contract situations out of the way for both Mayfield and one of the defensive leaders in Vea, they and the team can shift their focus toward the season opener.

Tampa Bay faces the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.