Baker Mayfield has cashed in with the Buccaneers again.
Tampa Bay is signing Mayfield to a three-year, $165 million contract extension, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday. Tampa Bay later announced the extension through the 2029 season.
The news comes as a surprise after the two sides passed Mayfield's self-imposed training camp deadline for a deal to get done, leading to the veteran QB to say he felt "disrespected" by the Bucs' proposals.
Roughly six weeks time, however, was enough to bridge whatever gap existed in contract talks, and Mayfield now will make $55 million per year on a new deal struck on the eve of the 2026 season.
Mayfield, 31, has provided security for the Bucs in the post-Tom Brady era, keeping Tampa Bay competitive in the NFC South during his three seasons quarterbacking the team. Since joining the club in 2023, Mayfield has made two Pro Bowls and thrown for 12,237 yards, 92 touchdowns and 56 interceptions while winning two division titles.
Though last year ended in disaster -- a 2-7 finish down the stretch to miss the playoffs after a 6-2 start to the season -- Mayfield has proven he's every bit the franchise quarterback the Bucs require. Half of the team's wins during the 2025 campaign came through his late-game heroics, as he led four fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives. He was an early MVP candidate, having thrown 16 TDs to two INTs through Week 10, but a litany of ailments throughout the season took their toll.
Mayfield never missed a contest but showed up on the injury report with injuries to his foot, toe, right biceps, knee, oblique and both shoulders at various points of the season. As he wore down, the highlights came less frequently, replaced by accuracy issues, more turnovers and trouble staying on the same page with his receivers.
Nevertheless, Tampa Bay still fields a win-now team, and Mayfield is the surest bet to capitalize under center.
Mayfield initially joined Tampa Bay on a one-year prove-it deal in 2023, hoping simply to find a more permanent home after journeying between three teams from 2021-22. He won a QB competition over Kyle Trask and helped the Bucs to the Divisional Round, after which he signed a three-year, $100 million extension.
It turned out to be a massive bargain for the Buccaneers. Mayfield returned the team to the playoffs again in 2024 while throwing a career-high 41 touchdowns and showed yet again he's one of the league's fiercest leaders throughout an injury-plagued '25 campaign.
He did so as the 16th-highest-paid quarterback in the league at $33.3 million per year, essentially the lowest-paid established starter who isn't a stopgap veteran or on a rookie contract (excluding special cases like the Falcons' Tua Tagovailoa and the Vikings' Kyler Murray signing deals for the veteran minimum following costly releases by their previous teams).
Under his new deal, Mayfield will be counted on to take his game to yet another level still.
For the first time since 2021, the Buccaneers will not enter the season as the reigning NFC South champions -- and even in that case, they were coming off a Super Bowl victory. Tampa Bay went 12 years without a playoff trip before its recent five-year stretch of postseason runs from 2020-24, and has no intention of starting a new prolonged drought after missing out on the tournament last season.
Mayfield still has plenty of playmakers at his disposal, namely running back Bucky Irving and wide receivers Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and third-round rookie Ted Hurst, but he'll be without Mike Evans after the franchise legend left for the 49ers in free agency.
