Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said there is "absolutely no question" he wants Baker Mayfield as his long-term quarterback, giving the NFL club's clearest public football answer while contract talks remain short of a new deal.
Bowles Backs Mayfield As Buccaneers Starter
Bowles' comments came after Mayfield said last week that he and the Buccaneers were "not anywhere close" to where they expected to be on a new contract. Mayfield is entering the final season of a three-year, $100 million deal and can become an unrestricted free agent in 2027 if no extension is reached.
Mayfield and agent Tom Mills have said they want a deal completed before training camp. ESPN reported that if there is no agreement before Mayfield's expected reporting date in the final week of July, they plan to shut down negotiations so he can focus on football.
Bowles said he does not believe the contract situation has affected Mayfield's work. He described the quarterback as businesslike and said the contract side would take care of itself over time.
Mayfield's Tampa Bay Resume Shapes Leverage
Mayfield arrived in Tampa Bay on a one-year prove-it deal worth up to $8.5 million in 2023 after Tom Brady's retirement. He then led the Buccaneers to back-to-back NFC South titles in 2023 and 2024, turning what could have been a long quarterback search into something far more stable.
The Buccaneers are 27-24 with Mayfield as their starter, according to ESPN. That is not the sort of record that ends debate forever, but it is enough to make Bowles' stance easy to understand: Tampa Bay knows what the position looked like before Mayfield settled it.
July Reporting Date Looms Over Negotiations
Mayfield said the timing of a deal is not entirely up to him, while Bowles pointed to the field work as evidence that the contract issue has not become a distraction. During Thursday's OTA practice, Mayfield connected with Chris Godwin Jr. on back-to-back touchdowns in 7-on-7 drills.
There is still a meaningful deadline before the season's real pressure starts. If the sides do not move before late July, the negotiation can wait until after the season, but the risk changes: Mayfield would be one strong year closer to testing the market, and the Buccaneers would be one year closer to having to answer the same quarterback question again.