In recent years, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done an incredible job of re-signing their own talent. After winning Super Bowl LV, they became the first team in the salary cap era to bring back all 22 starters for the following season.
Even in the post-Tom Brady era, numerous stars have opted to re-sign on relatively team-friendly contracts, including Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Baker Mayfield, Lavonte David, Jamel Dean, and Carlton Davis — and this doesn’t even include stars who signed extensions with Tampa Bay before hitting free agency like Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield.
The most recent (and notable) example is Godwin, who left $8 million per year on the table to stay in Tampa Bay. What is it about the Buccaneers’ organization that makes players want to stay?
Baker Mayfield Makes Feelings Clear on Buccaneers’ Strong Culture
Last offseason, Mayfield inked a three-year, $100 million contract that now looks like one of the bigger bargains in the NFL. He was coming off a career year and had other free-agency options, but he wanted to make Tampa his long-term home.
Mayfield opened up to PFSN about what makes the Bucs’ culture special and why so many players ultimately choose to re-sign (even if it means making less money). While wearing a white Bucco Bruce hat, Mayfield credited four people in particular.
“I think from the moment I stepped into the locker room… I mean, there are unbelievable names football-wise like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Vita Vea, Lavonte David — some of these guys that consistently are leaders on the field and that are just great guys,” Mayfield told PFSN. “All they want to do is win — they don’t need the spotlight, so it’s that culture. And they set the precedent well before I got here. It makes it awesome.”
Evans, Godwin, Vea, and David are all Pro Bowlers who were drafted by the Bucs. General manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles, who both recently signed contract extensions, also deserve credit for contributing to this culture.
“I’ve got a phenomenal staff around me..
We put the players on the draft board like everybody does but then we take the guys that don’t love football off..
We’re drafting great players that are great humans”@jasonrlicht #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/W0sGmqIFfd
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 30, 2025
Licht has revealed that the Bucs shifted their draft approach to prioritize high-character individuals shortly before Brady arrived, and it has worked wonders for their culture.
“[We realized] we were rarely missing on the player, we were missing on the person. And what were the qualities of a person that made them successful?” Licht explained.
“It’s really not that hard. We put the players that are worthy of being drafted on the draft board like every team does, but then we just kind of take the a**holes and the d*****bags off, and the guys that don’t love football and guys that have proven they don’t like it, that are difficult to deal with, and we just kind of mitigate our risk. We’re taking great players that are great humans.”
Licht and the Bucs have a silhouette of David on the wall in the draft room alongside the words “I AM THAT MAN” and the five qualities that Tampa Bay looks for in all of its draft prospects: “Accountable, Competitive, Confident, Passionate, Resilient.”
During the pre-draft process, Licht and his staff compare every prospect to the star linebacker, who is the Bucs’ longest-tenured player and entering his 14th NFL season.
“He’s the poster child, literally, for us,” Licht said. “We have a picture of a silhouette in our draft room that says, ‘I am that man.’ [That’s who] we want as a player… and it does not show his face, but it is Lavonte. He is the one we look for every year. He is the standard.”
Offensively, Evans and Godwin are the culture-setters. While star wide receivers have a reputation for being outspoken divas, Evans and Godwin are known for their unselfishness and team-first approach. This is why the Bucs had no issues when Rob Gronkowski was brought in during the Brady years, or when Tampa Bay drafted Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan in recent years.
In fact, McMillan credited Evans and Godwin’s mentorship for his second-half breakout during his rookie season when he caught seven touchdowns over the final five weeks of the season.
The Bucs were once the laughing stock of the NFL, and players couldn’t wait to leave the organization (or they would simply refuse to report if drafted by Tampa Bay, a la Bo Jackson). The team has obviously come a long way since then and ushered in a new era, and the four Pro Bowlers that Mayfield shouted out deserve a ton of credit for setting the foundation and making a huge impact behind the scenes as well as on the gridiron.