Despite his exceptional play since being named the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two years ago (which has included two consecutive NFC South Division titles), Baker Mayfield is still unable to earn the respect of all his doubters.
Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com has shown his aversion to Mayfield as a quarterback previously, including last year when he ranked Mayfield below Jacoby Brissett on his ranking of current NFL quarterbacks.
Apparently, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 TD's (both top 3 in the league) while completing 70% of his passes in 2024 wasn't enough to sway Rosenthal's opinion on the Bucs' feisty quarterback.
On a recent episode of his podcast, NFL Daily, Rosenthal offered a scathing opinion of Mayfield as the quarterback for the Bucs.
“If [the Buccaneers] had a slightly better quarterback, I’d think they’d be in the inner circle of Super Bowl contenders," Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal didn't exactly hold back either when his hot take was called into question, "It’s not hate; he’s great... I think they would be in the inner circle of Super Bowl favorites if, like, Justin Herbert was their quarterback.”
Yikes.
Following a tumultuous few seasons after being cast out of Cleveland, Baker Mayfield's ascension as the quarterback of the Buccaneers has been one the better stories in the league.
When you consider Mayfield's performance over the past two seasons, the Bucs' success as a team with him at the helm and the support he's earned from his teammates and coaches along the way, it becomes quite clear that despite the occasional critic, those who see him work day-in day-out have the utmost confidence in his abilities to lead the Buccaneers to another Super Bowl.
