Pat McAfee dismisses contract anxieties as standard procedure, urging calm as the quarterback enters the final year of his deal amidst high-stakes negotiations for a long-term extension.
The biggest story of the summer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is what will happen with QB Baker Mayfield.
Will he sign a long-term extension?
Will he not?
Will the Bucs use the franchise tag on him?
Will 2026 be Mayfield’s last season in Tampa?
For arguably the biggest name in sports media, all of this is being overblown.
“Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not gonna be negotiating when training camp starts,” ESPN’s Pat McAfee, who is now making $60 million a year, said on his show Monday afternoon. “This is not abnormal. I think people try to make this a bigger deal than it actually is. He’s now in his third chapter, which has become his home, and we’ve had Jason Licht, the GM, come out and say he absolutely loves Baker Mayfield.
“Whatever you think of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South, you like them, and you think Baker and Tampa like each other. I don’t think we’re anywhere near done negotiating; we still got time. I don’t think that this is the most negative thing on earth, that this is happening.”
This take comes days after Mayfield revealed that an extension is not imminent.
Mayfield, who has been with the Bucs since 2023, is entering the last season of a three-year, $100 million contract.
He is currently the 16th highest-paid QB in the NFL.
One analyst feels that Mayfield will ask for an extension in the neighborhood of what Jordan Love (four years, $220 million), Daniel Jones (two years, $88 million), and Jared Goff (four years, $212 million) have received in recent years.
Mayfield said Friday that he and his wife, Emily, who have had two children in Mayfield’s time with the Bucs (the most recent one being born in late April), would love to be in Tampa long term, but that he doesn’t want to discuss his contract with the team once training camp starts.
He was also surprised that his close friend, Buccaneers legend Mike Evans, won’t be ending his career in Tampa,but that he’s excited for Chris Godwin to emerge as the leader of the receivers room.
Mayfield has frustrated Bucs fans with his play at times. Last season, he threw for almost as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns (10) in Tampa’s last eight games.
The Bucs went 2-6 in those games, and lost out on the NFC South championship for the first time since 2020, when Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns to their only playoff win since reviving in 1999.
The good times for Mayfield in Cleveland ended soon after 2020.
The Browns became the Browns once again in 2021, going 8-9 and missing the postseason.
That year turned out to be Mayfield’s last in Cleveland. The Browns made the now-infamous DeShaun Watson trade in March 2022, which spelled the end for Mayfield, who wound up spending time with both the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams that season.
With Tom Brady retiring, the Bucs needed a QB and landed on Mayfield, who promptly led them to two straight division titles.
Time will tell how the story of Mayfield in Tampa ends, but both parties hope it won’t be anytime soon.
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