The Buccaneers agreed to a three-year contract extension with Baker Mayfield ahead of Week 1, locking in a quarterback they now call their franchise leader and ensuring he remains a Buccaneer for the foreseeable future. The deal gives Tampa Bay stability before the season begins and puts Mayfield on a path that few would have predicted when he entered the league as the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft.
That path began with pressure. The Browns took Mayfield after becoming the second team in NFL history to go 0-16, and five quarterbacks came off the board in the first round that year, including Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson. Mayfield’s rookie season started behind Tyrod Taylor, but Taylor’s injury in Week 3 opened the door and Mayfield answered with a 21-17 comeback victory over the Jets that ended Cleveland’s 19-game winless streak.
He did more than provide one jolting moment. Mayfield threw for 3,725 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 touchdowns as a rookie and went 6-7 as a starter, then helped Cleveland to a 6-10 season in 2019 before guiding the Browns to an 11-5 record in 2020. That season ended with the Browns’ first playoff appearance since 2002 and a win over the rival Steelers, a run that restored his standing even after he had been treated like a castoff in Cleveland.
Now the Buccaneers are betting that version of Mayfield is here to stay. The extension is the latest step in a career that has moved from top draft pick to discarded starter to the quarterback a new team is willing to build around, and it arrives just as he is cashing in before the 2026 season, his ninth as a pro.
What the contract is worth remains the biggest unanswered piece, but the message is already clear: Tampa Bay wanted certainty at the sport’s most important position, and it chose Mayfield over waiting for the next market reset. For a player who once had to fight back from the bench to a comeback win in Week 3, that is the strongest sign yet that his next chapter is no longer about surviving in the NFL, but leading in it.
