“This Is Life-Changing Money”
March 13th, 2024
Baker Mayfield speaks.
Everyone paying attention knows Baker Mayfield’s new contract is a fraction of what comparable fellow Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins got on his new deal with the Falcons.
Yeah, one could say Atlanta management is clown show, but one also could claim Mayfield either turned down a lot of money so the Bucs could re-sign players or Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht is a master negotiator.
Joe leans toward the latter. Mayfield will earn $30 million this season and next. That’s more than 20 percent below what he could have locked down on the franchise tag for 2024. Cousins is $40 million man coming off an Achilles tear five months ago.
Mayfield, 28, was asked about earning far less than Cousins, 35, today at a One Buc Palace news conference. Mayfield wouldn’t go there. He said he’s grateful for his deal, “not ashamed.”
“This is life-changing money and I’m not going to act like otherwise,” Mayfield said.
Joe loved the response. Yeah, Mayfield could have squeezed the Bucs, but the Bucs had the right to squeeze him, too.
It seems like Mayfield is happy, and that’s what counts. Bitter quarterbacks who feel jilted aren’t usually winners.
Baker Mayfield said his contract is “life-changing money.” pic.twitter.com/EuLcFSiwpm
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) March 13, 2024
March 13th, 2024 at 11:21 am
Bucs will sweep the Falcons this year. Mark my Word. Go Bucs!
March 13th, 2024 at 11:22 am
LETS BAKE!
March 13th, 2024 at 11:23 am
Amen bro
March 13th, 2024 at 11:26 am
Love the response too. Makes me a bigger Baker fan knowing he could’ve squeezed harder, but values the big picture over just dollars. A grateful QB is a happy QB.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:28 am
Baker’s gonna ball out this year
March 13th, 2024 at 11:32 am
I’m with smashsquatch. Love the humble answer. Love watching him on the field. The more I get to know BM6, the luckier I think we are to have him. Go Bucs!!!
March 13th, 2024 at 11:42 am
BAKER’S FATHER AND BROTHER
Do you remember last off season? Baker’s Father and Brother stole $10M from him! They basically, cleaned his investment pool out. He had to hire lawyers and investigators to find out what they did with it.
This money is definitely life-changing for Baker. Just hope he learned the “Don’t do business with family” lesson.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:46 am
If Atlanta offered him what they did Cousins he’d be a Falcon right now. Lets not kid ourselves, money talks, BS walks. Baker got what a good fair deal from the Bucs. I think the Falcons were crazy paying Cousins what they did, and for how long.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:48 am
Now that Baker has officially found his new “home” – its time for Progressive to bring back the “At Home” commercials with Mayfield taking out the trash and bringing in the mail at RayJay….
That will help Baker make up the difference between his and Cousins’ contracts.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:55 am
We got a bargain for Mayfield, like he promised
And what will the Falcons do with a 36 year old QB- who was already a statue, coming off a complete Achilles tear?
Hes gonna take alot of hits.
But thats what you have to do, when you dont have a QB.
You either get who you can find on the trash heap,
Or you tank every game, losing all your good players, hoping you can draft a rookie- who MIGHT develop in 4-5 years.
Thats the NFL. It all depends on the QB.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:56 am
SlyPirate Says:
March 13th, 2024 at 11:42 am
BAKER’S FATHER AND BROTHER
Do you remember last off season? Baker’s Father and Brother stole $10M from him! They basically, cleaned his investment pool out. He had to hire lawyers and investigators to find out what they did with it.
This money is definitely life-changing for Baker. Just hope he learned the “Don’t do business with family” lesson
……….
Yeah, I remember it, but how do you know what happened to the money, I have been searching for an article on a follow up about the law suite and there is nothing that I can find. Share if you have a reliable source.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:57 am
Hey hodad being ranked #9 by the NFL QB Index isn’t worth more? Baker was TRUE to his word. Took less than #9 warrants and helped the team financially. But whatever you do hodad don’t be grateful for such a stand-up guy.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:58 am
Well, yeah.
March 13th, 2024 at 12:06 pm
In fact, Baker has been ranked 11, 12 and 9 for 3 of his seasons, so… that’s not really average in anybodys book, not really.
March 13th, 2024 at 12:11 pm
When you have 10s of millions of dollars, what good is it if you aren’t happy where you are and who you play for and with.
Maybe three or 4 generations of future Mayfields will feel somewhat of a pinch….but Baker and immediate family….nope.
The same goes for Mike Evans……play where you want for who you want and with you want…..the money eventually becomes secondary.
March 13th, 2024 at 12:32 pm
Congratulations Baker, you got a very good deal.
The Falcons continue to be total idiots.
Cousins is GARBAGE!
March 13th, 2024 at 12:48 pm
I love that answer too. This guy has a good head on his shoulders
March 13th, 2024 at 12:57 pm
I’ll be a bit surprised if Cousins make it past game 8
March 13th, 2024 at 1:16 pm
“This is life-changing money and I’m not going to act like otherwise,”
Finally an athlete says it.
Go Bucs!
March 13th, 2024 at 1:30 pm
If Baker succeeds, he will get a much bigger contract at 31 or 32.
He needs an interior line upgrade. Better production from RBs. Can the TE make a leap forward? Can a true third WR emerge from this group?
Pass rush. Pass rush. Pass rush.
March 13th, 2024 at 1:37 pm
“This is life-changing money and I’m not going to act like otherwise,” Mayfield said.
This statement from Baker is a reflection of his intelligence, character, and maturity.
Bravo. The Bucs have a franchise QB and I hope he leads this team for the next 8-10 years.
March 13th, 2024 at 1:37 pm
Let’s not forget that after the season Baker said that some sacrifices would need to be made to get the band back together. While it’s hard to call 100 million a sacrifice, it’s still way down the line when it comes to quaterback compensation among the 32 starters.
March 13th, 2024 at 1:47 pm
“This is life-changing money and I’m not going to act like otherwise,” Mayfield said.
That is our Baker! Like others commented – He has integrity, respect, and is genuine.
March 13th, 2024 at 2:00 pm
If things go as Bake and the FO plan he will be signing a new deal on par with the top 10 veteran Quarterbacks…. That said with a average financial planner he and his family will be very very comfortable in life for the rest of their days
March 13th, 2024 at 2:19 pm
Good for him it took him a few years to earn the big money, ENJOY!!!!!!!
March 13th, 2024 at 2:47 pm
ModHairKen Says:
“If Baker succeeds, he will get a much bigger contract at 31 or 32.”
———————–
There is a good chance Baker never plays on the third year of this deal. If he continues to play well, they will extend at a bigger number at the end of year 2. If he fails, the Bucs will cut him as there is nothing guaranteed in year 3.
March 13th, 2024 at 2:58 pm
I hope that Baker and Emily enjoy their new parenthood and get some resolution to where his investments went. He seems like a good guy based on this press conference, how he treats other players during games, and based on what players and coaches have said about him.
Atlanta desperately overpaid for Cousins after missing out on Baker, and I hope our pass rush improves enough to put Cousins on his back many times.
March 13th, 2024 at 3:52 pm
Great dude, great teammate, great leader, and elite QB. Go Bucs!
March 13th, 2024 at 4:40 pm
Joe says:
“Yeah, one could say Atlanta management is clown show, but one also could claim Mayfield either turned down a lot of money so the Bucs could re-sign players or Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht is a master negotiator.
Joe leans toward the latter. Mayfield will earn $30 million this season and next. That’s more than 20 percent below what he could have locked down on the franchise tag for 2024. Cousins is $40 million man coming off an Achilles tear five months ago.”
Look I am going to give Licht his flowers and getting great team friendly deals compared to what the players could have gotten on the open market as bounty hunters and assassins. But I won’t in this case. Baker and Evans each cut a hand off from some serious money so the team could have two extra set of arms. Don’t kid yourself. Any of those teams paying Darnold, Brissett or Minshew would have jumped at grabbing Baker (2 playoff wins in 4 years – more than any of those players or teams have accomplished in 6 years) for $70M guaranteed. Baker bet on Tampa and the team. Give him his flowers with all the rose petals.
March 13th, 2024 at 5:12 pm
It changed the lives of all the fanbois too!
March 13th, 2024 at 5:48 pm
Baker Mayfield contract is what they pay bridge quarterbacks and at this point of his career he’s a bridge quarterback. Baker is not a trash quarterback but he can’t put a offense on his back. So to win with Baker you have to have a good running game and you can’t let him throw 40 times a game. I know you guys are excited but don’t forget about that 6 game losing streak when he only completed 48 percent of his passes. I love the contract the bucs gave him but I’m going to call it like I see it. If he sucks I’m going to say he suck and if he balls out I’m going to give him his credit.
March 13th, 2024 at 6:20 pm
Oneilbuc Baker put this team on his back quite a few times I mean laying it out to run for critical first downs That losing streak you talk about The running game was trash at that time Once we got that going just a little bit we started winning I dont see that as Bakers fault Now Im a Trask man but Baker won me over Lets give the guy some props Fantastic free agency so far So lets follow it and nail the draft LFG BUCS
March 13th, 2024 at 6:22 pm
No $hit!
March 13th, 2024 at 6:28 pm
What’s the story behind the cap and the upside down letters?
March 13th, 2024 at 8:17 pm
All he needs is an IOL and RB2 and this offense will hum
March 13th, 2024 at 8:23 pm
Donal. Again I don’t have a problem with giving players their props that’s why I never said Baker Mayfield was a trash quarterback. My problem with his fans and some bucs fans is when they can’t admit when he plays bad . To win with Baker Mayfield you can’t let him throw 40 times a game. And I do agree with the running game part but that’s when a quarterback has to put the team on his back and he couldn’t do it against good teams. This year our schedule is going to be much harder. Now I’m rooting for Baker Mayfield because he’s on the bucs team. But I I have low expectations for this season I rather to start low than move the expectation up as the season moves faward!!
March 13th, 2024 at 8:57 pm
Simeon4HOF … ‘All he needs is an IOL and RB2 and this offense will hum’.
I think this offense is closer to considerably upping its’ production than many think. This is now Baker’s 2nd year with this offensive group. Our OLine can surely benefit from a new C & LG, but we might not see both positions improved this year. I feel confident that we’ll add a beastly RB to complement White, and probably also add another TE who’s better at blocking to ease Otton’s workload. Personally I think how well we do on the season will largely depend on our 2024 draft class though (we don’t have much $$$ left to afford any expensive FAs to fill holes).
March 13th, 2024 at 9:34 pm
That’s alright onei, last year the experts said TB would win 4 games but TB went 2 deep into the playoffs. With just a few changes in circumstances you would have gone to the Conference Championship. This is going to be a better year than last year. Every TB fan is going to enjoy watching this team. Baker isn’t perfect and has things to learn and improve on but he will learn them and come back stronger and better. He isn’t the type to be happy with mediocrity. He will earn his money for you guys and then some. It is going to be fun. Go Bucs!!!! 🏴☠️
March 13th, 2024 at 9:54 pm
Where are you Rod? Baker is our guy you still going to root against him this season and the ne next and so on. ( I am so excited he stayed here.)
March 14th, 2024 at 10:36 am
After he signed his contract Baker said, “There is still a lot of meat on the bones”. Meaning there is still enough money left to go around and finish paying the other athletes. Thus solidifying the talent on the team.