Baker Mayfield Lands On Top 10 List Of “Execs, Coaches And Scouts”
June 21st, 2025
We’re about one month from the reveal of the annual ESPN survey that asks team executives, coaches and scouts to name their top players at each position.
ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler produces the July feature, but he let one cat out of the bag early.
Fowler probably thought Joe wasn’t paying attention. Ha!
Talking Bucs in a roundtable chat on NFL Live this week, Fowler noted a Baker Mayfield stat and said the Bucs’ QB is approaching “elite” status.
Fowler seemed to want to justify that take with unreleased survey results.
“I’ll give you a little tease here, every summer I rank the top-10 players at each position through execs, coaches and scouts; I do like a composite ranking [of their votes],” Fowler said. “Baker Mayfield acquitted himself very well, probably better than most would think.”
So it sure seems to Joe that Mayfield not only landed in the top-10 of NFL QBs, but he probably checked in at anywhere from No. 7 to No. 9.
Impressive stuff. The Bucs really need to capitalize on all things Mayfield before he’s commanding $60 million a season.
Ira Kaufman Talks Conference Status, More Baker Mayfield Scrutiny, Defensive Needs Debate, Josh Grizzard’s My-Way Stance, And Much More
June 21st, 2025 at 5:30 pm
In 2024 Mayfield was top 3 in yards and TDs – also ran for 3 TDs with more rushing yards/1st downs than most QBs in the league. And the Bucs were the best team in the league on 3rd down…..
If Baker is not ranked top 10 on any given upcoming ‘list’ of QBs – then something is very wrong with that source’s ranking system!
June 21st, 2025 at 5:36 pm
Bet you cant name a team that looks forward to playing him and the Bucs.
June 21st, 2025 at 5:39 pm
Come on Joe, that’s a cheap shot. He hasn’t “commanded 60 million a season”. Cheap shot? What’s wrong with a guy likely wanting market value when the time comes? –Joe
He’s obviously grateful and more importantly as happy as he has been in along time. One can be grateful and ask for market value at the same time.–Joe Looks to me like he’s making Tampa home. Plus the team has alot of unfinished business on the table. As long as Licht and Bowles and his teammates want him here I really don’t see money breaking this group up. Because Tampa is fair and Baker Mayfield knows that. Maybe for a perk they could let him stay at the Stadium.
June 21st, 2025 at 5:41 pm
Bet I can. The Baltimore Ravens. They own the Bucs.
June 21st, 2025 at 5:55 pm
Joe … ‘The Bucs really need to capitalize on all things Mayfield before he’s commanding $60 million a season.’
Seriously Joe? $60 mil a season? I don’t think so.
Joe’s thinking 2027 or 2028 for this number, assuming Mayfield continues his elite play. If the cap keeps going up at its current rate, the $60 million won’t be outlandish, a less than 10 percent raise from what the pack of $55 million QBs are earning in 2025.
Baker is surrounded by some top talent. He’s got an incredible OLine protecting him, as well as a stable of receivers that most QBs would give their left gnut for. He’s also supported by a stable of RBs who’ve done very well, and that takes a lot of the pressure off of any QB. His defense isn’t Top-10 right now, but it was middle of the pack (a lot better than being bottom rung).
And yet we finished 9-8 in his 1st year, and 10-7 in his 2nd year. We made the playoffs both years, and we won 1 and lost 2.
Baker is a PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. For him to do well he needs all those other pieces to also do well. He’s not the elite QB who can win the game all by himself (no QBs are IMO, even Patrick Mahomes). Paying ANY QB $60 mil average per year is ludicrous for any club. The great Tom Brady understood what it took to win, and because of that he kept his salary demands reasonable. I personally believe that Baker is of the same mold.
June 21st, 2025 at 6:35 pm
Baker will receive north of what Brock Purdy is making. If he rolls deep into the playoffs, he will certainly command dak money. Market drives value.
June 21st, 2025 at 7:20 pm
@Defense Rules – the same could be said about Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Pat Mahomes, and for some of the time, Aaron Rogers. NONE of them singlehandedly lifted their team to greatness. Heck, The great Tom Brady didn’t make Tampa Super Bowl champs by himself.
Unfortunately, $60M/yr is the going rate for these guys. Is it fair? Heck no, not even close. The $2M/yr center who snaps him the ball, the $4M/yr guards that protect him, etc all understand that.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ELITE QB. Period, end of sentence.
Imagine, if you can, that years ago Tom Brady had been drafted by the Browns instead of the Patriots. Do you think ANYONE would know his name?
June 21st, 2025 at 8:00 pm
If Baker stop turning the ball over in cruiser moments he could be another Steve Young type quarterback.
June 21st, 2025 at 8:22 pm
Yup, everyone is looking on the sunny side of what if’s, but , ignore the dark side , what if with all that talent, the Bucs are still a .500 team or worse! What is Mayfield’s value then? What if he regresses ? Would he still be looking for a large increase in pay? What if he threatens to walk? Would he be worth a large increase at 32 years of age when he was already regressing and the average age of SuperBowl Winning quarterbacks for the past decade has been 27 and the average age of Super Bowl losing quarterbacks has been ,wait for it ,32! , ( Father Time is still undefeated) . Would you still be willing to pay him 60 million dollars if he had already reached his use by date? Shouldn’t future compensation be based on projected future value instead of past performance , especially if regression has already taken place, Chaos Theory is real and part of it is the fallacy of predetermining future outcomes based on past personal biases , hence ,Chaos! There are simply too many future variables to dwell on past physical performances.
June 21st, 2025 at 9:22 pm
I think the QB’s are in for, and should be, a rude awakening. The number’s are getting ridiculous. You can say all you want about the QB being the most important position on the team, I don’t buy that. 1 position doesn’t do jack without the other positions. Should they make more? Maybe to yes but not the numbers they have now, and I mean the % of the teams cap they eat up. The WR’s are creeping up, then the “Edge” guys, DB’s, what about the O-line guys and everybody else. Brady knew, as I think Mayfield does, that there needs to be money to go around to field a good team. With the cap going up, great, but everybody needs to get paid. Can the Bengals pay Hendrickson with all the money tied up in 3 offensive guys? Not to mention how those salaries are going to affect ticket prices, food and everthing else associated with teams.
June 21st, 2025 at 9:48 pm
Mayfield is a Top5 QB. Name 5 others you would rather see in Tampa. This year will prove my point. Defense this year needs to be mediocre and Bucs go to the NFC Championship. Licht through the draft and cuts has assembled a mediocre defense which is significantly better than the horrid mess the last couple of years. Bucs will renegotiate Baker at end of 2025 at $55Mill/yr.
Mayfield 2025 line 45TD, 4800yrd’s, 70% comp, 10INT, 4Fumbles lost.
June 21st, 2025 at 10:07 pm
If he starts costing $60m…we need to get a new QB.
High QB salary will kill contention.
June 21st, 2025 at 10:08 pm
JD Still Says:
“what if with all that talent, the Bucs are still a .500 team”
Bucs are not a .500 team. And haven’t been for years now.
June 21st, 2025 at 10:52 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai, it all depends on how you look at it, if we are talking about play within the NFC South we are barely over .500, if you are talking about against other Conference winners , We are sub.500 and if you are talking about in the playoffs , we again are sub .500, We still have a lot of work to do to get where We want to go , but We should be able to get there with the talent we have, and if not , questions must be asked.