Jason Licht says the Buccaneers are not reopening Baker Mayfield contract talks right now, even after months of back-and-forth over a new deal. Mayfield had set the start of training camp as his deadline for an extension, then broke off talks after offers he called “not appealing whatsoever.”
That leaves Mayfield headed into the final year of his current deal, with a chance to reach free agency in March if nothing changes. Licht sounded confident at the end of August, saying on the WFLA broadcast of the Buccaneers' preseason finale, “I’m very optimistic about it,” and adding that Mayfield wants to play and prove he is the franchise quarterback the team said he was.
The reported shape of Tampa Bay’s last proposal helps explain why the sides remain apart. The offer was said to be a two-year term with an average annual value of at least $50MM, while Mayfield is seeking a longer commitment. In other words, the club appears willing to pay starter money, but not yet on the kind of timeline Mayfield wants before deciding where he belongs beyond this season.
Licht still has a fallback if the standoff drags on. He can use the franchise tag to keep Mayfield for at least 2027, though that route would carry a $50.3MM cap charge for the Buccaneers. That is a steep price for a team trying to plan around its quarterback position, which is why the current pause matters even with Licht saying, “I’ll never close the door on anything in the short term, but right now, he’s focused on football.”
On Tuesday, Licht made the short-term posture plain: there are no immediate plans to reopen talks, and “we’re on to Cincinnati.” That keeps the focus on Week 1 while leaving the larger contract question unsettled, and it puts the next move on Tampa Bay if it wants to keep Mayfield from playing out the season as a pending free agent. The latest public stance suggests the Buccaneers are waiting for a better moment to act, but the clock is still running toward March.
