The clock is ticking on Baker Mayfield’s future in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are eagerly waiting for a resolution, but NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe doesn’t have an encouraging update for them.
Speaking on “Good Morning Football”, Wolfe painted a bleak picture of where things stand between Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
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“From what I understand, they’re not close on a deal right now,” Wolfe said. Both sides want something done, he noted, naming GM Jason Licht, head coach Todd Bowles, and Mayfield himself as the three key figures.
Wolfe added, “But the numbers, the particulars, aren’t right now in flux.” That gap matters because time is running out. Mayfield has set his own deadline for getting a new contract in place: training camp, which opens July 28.
Wolfe called it exactly that, a “self-imposed deadline,” and pointed out that deadlines tend to force movement. “So we’ll watch over the next couple of weeks,” he said, adding that if a deal doesn’t come together, “urgency becomes critical for the Bucs this year.”
The urgency is easy to understand. Tampa Bay’s 2025 season didn’t end the way anyone in the building wanted.
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The Bucs lost the division and stumbled down the stretch, and Wolfe didn’t shy away from calling it what it was. There are real questions swirling around Bowles heading into this year, and a shaky finish only adds fuel to that fire.
There’s a silver lining, though. The Bucs brought in Zac Robinson as their new offensive coordinator, a hire Wolfe says Mayfield actually pushed for.
The hope is that Robinson’s system unlocks a more creative, more explosive version of this offense, something that could help both quarterback and coach going into the back half of the season.
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Wolfe framed the bigger picture in stark terms: “A lot of people have tried to bury the Bucs, and they have come back, but this big situation with Baker’s contract is going to have an impact on a lot of the roster.”
He left the door open, indicating the direction this current chapter takes. Is it another Tampa Bay resurgence, or is this the start of something falling apart? Nobody knows yet.
Mayfield is playing out the final season of the three-year, $100 million extension he signed back in March 2024. The quarterback did not have a great 2025 campaign, as his subpar PFN Quarterback Impact Score of 74.4 suggests. But he is still a key part of the Buccaneers roster.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Mayfield first overall in 2018, but his time in Cleveland never lived up to expectations. He threw 92 touchdown passes against 56 interceptions. That’s not terrible, but his tenure was ultimately defined by losing seasons and costly mistakes.
After being traded to Carolina, where he posted a 1-5 record as a starter, Mayfield later landed with the Los Angeles Rams before the Buccaneers gave him a fresh start in 2023.
That gamble has paid off in a big way. Mayfield threw for over 4,000 yards that first season with 28 touchdowns against just 10 picks, guiding the Bucs to a 9-8 record and his first Pro Bowl nod.
He followed it up with an even bigger 2024, tossing 41 touchdowns and topping 4,500 yards as Tampa Bay went 10-7. Last season was a bit quieter, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with an 8-9 record, but still solid given the wave of injuries that hit the offense.
Now the question is whether the Bucs will pay up to keep that story going, or whether the next few weeks turn into a countdown toward an entirely different outcome.
