Mayfield sends Bucs a message amid contract negotiations stalemate

Baker Mayfield is a tricky discount, and he needs to get the kind of deal he feels deserving of.

That burned some bridges with the Cleveland Browns earlier than his commerce, and he could have realized his lesson. Earlier within the offseason, Mayfield set a deadline to get a brand new cope with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, claiming he’d both signal earlier than coaching camp or play on the ultimate yr of his contract. Now, talking at his annual quarterback camp in Oklahoma, evidently he is modified his tone. 

Baker Mayfield lowers his guard with the Bucs

“I might like to be there,” Mayfield told reporters. “I feel each side need to get it executed. Now, it’s a matter of discovering that center floor and what makes each side completely satisfied. I need to be there long-term. They’ve handled me proper.”

Mayfield revived his profession in Tampa Bay, and whereas consistency and accidents have held him again at instances, he is been his greatest model since arriving in Florida. The Bucs haven’t got a possible choice to switch him proper now, with Jake Browning, Connor Bazelak and Jalon Daniels as the opposite quarterbacks on the roster.

Ideally, each side would need to get this out of the way in which sooner reasonably than later. In any other case, this can solely be a distraction at a time when head coach Todd Bowles’ seat would possibly get a bit too lukewarm. Mayfield is presently making $33 million, rating sixteenth amongst NFL quarterbacks, and he may be taking a look at one thing nearer to the $50 million mark.

Whether or not the Bucs will comply and meet his calls for stays to be seen, however with Daniel Jones getting $88 million over two years in free company, Mayfield’s baseline asking worth ought to be above that.