After battling through a litany of injuries last season, Baker Mayfield faces pressure from coaches to curb his reckless playstyle to ensure Tampa Bay’s long-term postseason hopes.
One wouldn't know it by looking at the numbers, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers' quarterback Baker Mayfield was hurt last season.
Yes, Mayfield ended up starting all 17 games, but that only tells part of the story.
Although this proves that Mayfield is, indeed, tough, it's also a dangerous tightrope. The Bucs QB established himself as fearless long before he took an NFL snap, but fearlessness can easily turn into recklessness.
The more Mayfield is dinged up, the more likely he is to suffer an injury that would lead him to miss time.
“No, he’s not going to miss any games, but he can take a little bit better care of himself in certain situations,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles told reporters at OTAs Tuesday. “I understand when he’s a yard and a half or two from a first down, but not when it’s 10 yards or eight yards from the first down when he can get up and live another day. Unless it’s fourth and 10 in Houston and the game is on the line, and I understand why he’s doing those types of things. But if we can take care of that, we’ll be fine.”
Pretty much any NFL team would be in trouble should its starting QB miss an extended period, and the Bucs are no exception.
Tampa's backup, Jake Browning, does have 17 NFL starts under his belt and even performed well in 2023, when an injury to Cincinnati Bengals starter Joe Burrow led to Browning starting nine games (he ended the year with 12 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 70.4 completion percentage).
But if Browning were as good as Mayfield, he'd be the one starting, and the Bucs have no plans to do that in 2026.
In fact, the team would like to keep Mayfield beyond this season, which is the last year of his four-year deal.
Mayfield and the Bucs aren’t yet close on reaching an extension, and Mayfield has said that if the sides can’t agree by the start of training camp July 22, then discussions will not continue during the season. As it is, Mayfield is 16th in terms of quarterback salaries, and would like to improve upon that.
Mayfield and the Bucs would also certainly like to improve upon their 2025. We all know the story by now. The Bucs started the season 6-2 and, somehow, managed to not win a division in which all five teams had losing records.
To avoid a similar fate in 2025, the Bucs must have a healthy Mayfield, and least one that’s healthy enough to play. For Mayfield to be healthy, one could argue that he’ll have to be less reckless.
It remains to be seen if Mayfield can be less reckless and still be Baker Mayfield.
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