The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield agreed to a three-year deal for $100 million in total and $50 million guaranteed, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Mayfield is set to make $30 million guaranteed in 2024, $30 million (with $20 million guaranteed) in 2025 and $40 million in 2026, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. There’s $5 million per year in incentives, bringing up the maximum value of the contract to $115 million.
Mayfield confirmed the deal in a statement to Schefter.
“I wanted a chance to come back,” Mayfield said. “I love coach [Todd] Bowles and the staff. I’m happy to be here and I want to win more in the postseason.”
Mayfield signed with the Buccaneers on a one-year deal worth $4 million in March 2023, charging him with the monumental task of replacing seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
Mayfield led the Bucs to impressive road victories at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 and at the New Orleans Saints in Week 4. But it was what he managed to do late in the season — leading the Bucs to victories in five out of the last six games — that dramatically changed the fortune of his team and revived his career.
First there was a 29-25 comeback victory at the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14 in which Mayfield connected with tight end Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left. Then in Week 15, Mayfield became the first opposing quarterback in NFL history to post a perfect 158.3 passer rating at Lambeau Field when the Bucs defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-20. In that game, he threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns. He followed that up with a two-touchdown performance in a 30-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16.
Mayfield’s 28 touchdowns during the regular season ranked seventh in the league and were a career best for him. His 2.8 touchdown-interception ratio tied with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy for ninth in the league. His 4,044 passing yards also ranked ninth, and the most in a single season in Mayfield’s career. He also posted a career-best 64.3 completion percentage.
In the wild-card round of the playoffs, Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-9 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles. The following week in the divisional round, Mayfield threw for 349 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in a 31-23 loss at the Detroit Lions. Mayfield’s 106.3 passer rating in those two playoff games was the highest of any Buccaneers quarterback in postseason history. His 3.0 postseason touchdown-interception ratio also matched that of Brady during his Buccaneers tenure.
The first overall draft pick in 2018, Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns to their first playoff win in 26 years after the 2020 season. But he was traded to the Carolina Panthers in July 2022, after the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson. The Panthers waived Mayfield after he went 1-5 as a starter in 2022, and he spent five games with the Los Angeles Rams.
Mayfield’s agent, Tom Mills, said in a statement to ESPN’s Jenna Laine that after his client was waived by the Panthers, “he never complained and always believed in himself. This contract is a result of that attitude, as well as his ability. He, [his wife] Emily and I are grateful to the Buccaneers for giving him the opportunity to continue his career.”
In addition to his on-field efforts this season, Mayfield and his wife established the Baker and Emily Mayfield Foundation in Tampa to “level the playing field” for disadvantaged children and families, with events supporting Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County and the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay.
Mayfield, 28, has passed for 20,322 yards with 130 touchdowns and 74 interceptions in his career.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.
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