Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.
QUESTION: Do you think it’s possible that Baker Mayfield’s contract extension happens this offseason to get a discount again, considering the future quarterback market?
ANSWER: This is a great question, and to set the table on this discussion, let’s take a look at where Baker Mayfield is in his current contract. After his first season in Tampa Bay in 2023, Mayfield signed a three-year contract extension worth $100 million. Despite back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons and a year in which Mayfield’s career-high 41 touchdown passes were the second-most in the NFL in 2024, he is still the third-highest paid quarterback in the NFC South behind Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins and New Orleans’ Derek Carr.
That will surely change soon, as Carr, who was making $37.5 million per year, has announced his retirement due to a shoulder injury, and Cousins, who is making $45 million per year, has been supplanted as the Falcons starter by Michael Penix Jr. At $33.3 million per year, Mayfield remains an absolute bargain as he enters the second year of his three-year deal.
Bucs LG Ben Bredeson and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
When looking at the entire league, Mayfield is even more of a bargain, as he is currently the 20th-highest paid quarterback in the NFL. With each new contract extension, such as the one for San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, who is now making $53 million per year, Mayfield keeps getting pushed down the QB list. There are two schools of thought regarding the timing of Mayfield’s next extension.
First, if the Bucs were to want to extend Mayfield’s deal this offseason, the team could be saving money in the long term. Given his performance in Tampa Bay over the past two seasons in leading the team to back-to-back NFC South championships and a total of 19 regular season wins, Mayfield deserves to be making at least $50 million per season. Here is the list of all 11 QBs who make at least $50 million per year or more, and Mayfield is certainly as good – if not better – than some of the names on this list.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott – $60 million
Bengals QB Joe Burrow – $55 million
Bills QB Josh Allen – $55 million
Packers QB Jordan Love – $55 million
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence – $55 million
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa – $53.1 million
Lions QB Jared Goff – $53 million
49ers QB Brock Purdy – $53 million
Chargers QB Justin Herbert – $52.5 million
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson – $52 million
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – $51 million
If the Bucs decide to wait until after the 2025 season to extend Mayfield, his price tag could go higher – to $55 million or perhaps even $60 million per season, especially if Tampa Bay advances further into the playoffs or perhaps even makes the Super Bowl. But the flip side of waiting is twofold.
First, the Bucs would still enjoy significant cap space on their 2025 cap without having to create a significant amount of room to absorb a potential extension this year. The team already has $26.6 million in cap space entering the year and should be able to roll over approximately $20 million in unused cap room to the 2026 offseason, which should help pay for a massive pay increase for Mayfield next spring.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Second, in case Mayfield suffers a career setback for some reason from a production standpoint – although unlikely – the team would avoid overpaying him. And of course if Mayfield were to suffer a significant injury that would perhaps shorten his career or limit his effectiveness going forward, the Bucs wouldn’t be on the hook for a massive contract extension and would only have to take a $42 million cap hit in 2026 – if it needed to move on from Mayfield. Think about what happened to former Bucs center Ryan Jensen.
I haven’t heard about the team possibly extending Mayfield’s contract this offseason with two years left on his deal. I think the earliest the team would address it would be next offseason as he’s entering a contract year. But keep in mind that Mayfield will be 31 next April, so there might even be a scenario where the team would let him play out his contract year before extending him. I don’t think that will happen, but the Bucs have done that recently to fellow stars like wide receiver Mike Evans, inside linebacker Lavonte David and safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
