Baker Mayfield Talks “Big Picture Mindset”

August 16th, 2023

Buccaneers No. 1 quarterback Baker Mayfield has drawn praise for his maturity.

Joe gets the chatter, that includes Todd Bowles, but that should be the case for every sixth-year quarterback that’s played a lot of games for a lot of coaches.

Mayfield flashed some of that sage wisdom during an ESPN sitdown with Sal Paolantonio.

Mayfield was asked what advice he would give his younger self.

“Have a big picture mindset. Have a singular focus about winning, but then also, ‘How are my decisions in the moment going to affect the rest of my career?'” Mayfield replied. “Because quarterbacks now can play a long, long time. So each mistake or each positive thing can affect the long run. So really, really just be aware of all your surroundings and each and every moment and how you can truly affect somebody in the building. And take advantage of those opportunities.”

Thoughtful answer there from Mayfield, who has made his share of good friends and haters around the league.

Mayfield has expressed a few times that he came to Tampa because it presented a long-term opportunity for him, versus other offers on his plate. Assuming Mayfield has been living true to his ESPN words in Tampa, Joe is confident Bucs officials have appreciated his approach.

20 Responses to “Baker Mayfield Talks “Big Picture Mindset””

  1. BucU Says:

    Like him or dislike him nobody can argue he’s done all the right things since he’s been here.
    That’s not debatable.

  2. Smashsquatch Says:

    Resuscitated QBs surface every now & then. Rich Gannon was a great example of that years ago. More recently you can point to Ryan Tannehill & Geno Smith. The latter two had been tossed in the dumpster and decided to hop out and prove their detractors wrong. Baker has a great opportunity to do the same here in Tampa, and it’s not a coincidence he’s being groomed by the same guy who breathed some life into Geno Smith. Tbd…

  3. Infomeplease Says:

    Live and learn. We all should follow this mantra.

  4. John Powers Says:

    So brave, I cant wait to read his full autobiography. Truly an illustrious career. I cant wait for him to look back and grace us with pearls like these.

  5. BillyBucco Says:

    I don’t dislike Baker. At all.
    Trask winning the job would mean he is better.
    That would be better for Tampa.
    It’s no secret that a taller QB has more success in this league. (usually)
    He looked good in limited reps.
    I don’t just want Tampa to be good this year, but setup for years to come, especially at the QB position. Just because Geno Smith had one good year, doesn’t mean he is franchise capable. Only a few in this league truly are.
    Can we contend every year with the surrounding team. Tamoa has drafted some young studs and I don’t want another Jameis Winston experiment.
    Problem with Baker is that he is good enough to win you 8-10 games a year.
    As long as you keep him, that becomes your ceiling, regardless of the team around him. SBs are fun and I want more of them.

  6. Eric Says:

    I bet you can find these comments everywhere baker has been you have whatever mindset you want if you’re not good you just are not good moxie bravado or whatever it means nothing!

  7. Joseph C Simmons Says:

    I bet he meant that, looking back, he wouldn’t have tried to play through that shoulder injury in Cleveland. That’s what got him traded to the Panthers.

    But that was more Cleveland’s fault for penalizing him for one bad year after he played lights out the year before. The Browns are idiots.

  8. Smoothbayrider Says:

    I really don’t know why Baker gets such a bad rap. He’s got elite arm talent (Has a cannon for an arm, yet can throw with great touch on short and intermediate routes). He’s somewhat mobile (4.8 40yd with a low center of gravity). The potential is there for He and the Bucs to be wildly successful this year and beyond, yet many Bucs fans are either too blind, or too biased to realize that the team may have found it’s next franchise QB. I’m not stating that they have, just trying to point out that it’s a possibility. Every Bucs fan should be rooting for the guy to ball out.

  9. Smoothbayrider Says:

    And then there’s people like Eric, who think that Mayfield isn’t good. The Browns were 1-31 in the 32 games before mayfield got there. He ended quarterbacking them to the playoffs in his 2nd season.

  10. Smoothbayrider Says:

    Correction. 3rd season.

  11. Pickgrin Says:

    Baker bet on himself. And our roster….

    He agreed to come to Tampa Bay for Peanuts ($4M) because he knows in the vacuum of Tom Brady’s retirement lies his best chance to re-establish himself as a decent “starting” NFL Quarterback.

    Mayfield knows that having Evans, Godwin and (hopefully a healthy) Gage as your 1,1b &3 options at WR is about as close on earth as he will ever get to being in Wide Receiver Heaven…

  12. Pickgrin Says:

    Crap – just saw the Gage carted off field post… That sucks for him and the Bucs….

  13. Doughboy Says:

    Has anyone seen Shane Buechele qb on Kansas City Chiefs? Looks like ayoung Mahomes!!

  14. kyle Says:

    f trask.. go dawgs

  15. JBeezy Says:

    I agree with the Baker love…We’ve always traded the qbs that went on to do great things ie Doug Williams and Steve Young. Maybe its our chance to find one of those…hopefully the journey has humbled him a bit and its time to let his play do the talking. He certainly has played at a high level in college and in cleveland in the past.

  16. D Cone Says:

    Baker Mayfield is a Gambler. Received a scholarship to a college but was not going to start. Gambled and enrolled at another college and gave it a roll. He Won.

    When he was pretty much done at Cleveland in order to get the trade done at the Panthers he gave them a roll again. Cleveland paid 10.5 mil , Carolina paid 5 mil and Baker Gambler 3.5 mil that he was owed and he would get it back by balling out and getting his incentives. He lost but he was still in the game of football.

    Now he is at Tampa and instead of demanding 8 mil that he may or may not have been able to get he rolled them again. Took 4 mil, and Gambled that he would get the other 4.5 mil by balling out. By really playing well and with help of the team of course he will be at the very least be an 8 mil a year QB at the end of the season. After all Jacoby Brissett just signed a one year.deal for 8 mil as a back up.

    With Baker it seems it’s either 7 or 11 on the come out roll or it’s craps.

    Trask has time invested in the team and by all accounts had a right to compete.
    Baker on the other hand has 4.5 million reasons to win that job.
    Once I stopped bashing him and gave his incentives some thought. I would believe that being the starting quarterback was all part of the deal before a hand was shook. Just seems like no one would make a deal like that if there was even a chance of not playing.

    If that is the case then Trask may have known too and kept in quiet. He may have not played well enough to get the job but he sure hasn’t played like he didn’t have shot either.

    For those 4.5 million reasons alone I hope that Baker is dealt a decent hand this year.
    Place your bets we have a New Shooter.

  17. Since76 Says:

    Bottom line. He has given Defensive backs a long term chance of staying employed by throwing a lot of picks. Hope he turns it around and starts thinking about his own long term plans.

  18. D Cone Says:

    Smoothbayrider Says

    And then there’s people like Eric, who think that Mayfield isn’t good. The Browns were 1-31 in the 32 games before mayfield got there. He ended quarterbacking them to the playoffs in his 2nd season

    Owners of the Browns took the team to the playoff and part it was hiring Mayfield.

    Here is the money spent on Browns player expenses since 2014 in millions

    2014/ 132. 2015/167. 2016 182. 2017/153. 2018/229
    2019/ 245. 2020/ 223. 2021/ 251. 2022/271

    Now if you can show me where they paid Baker 75 million in 2018 then I will concede that Baker took the team where you say he did. Perhaps you meant he helped take them. Only thing he ever took in Cleveland was 21 million in 2018 and another 54 million went to defense and other pieces to help their QB.

    Money brought a Super Bowl to Tampa. Brady didn’t come here for free and ‘He’ didn’t win them a Super Bowl and he would be the first to admit it.
    I am sure I heard him say when he hugged Lavonte “We did it”

  19. Davey Says:

    Joe! ESPN??? Did you have a change of heart?

  20. Smoothbayrider Says:

    DCone , go read/re-read what I wrote. I said that he quarterbacked them to the playoffs. I don’t think that’s debatable.