Mike Tanier: Injuries Are No Excuse (For A Raise)
July 25th, 2026
Respect for heart and drive.
Joe’s good friend, NFL humorist/columnist Mike Tanier, summed up in one sentence what Football America thinks of the NFC South landfill.
Tanier is breaking down the NFL division-by-division in his training camp previews on his website, Too Deep Zone.
So here was the headline for the NFC South:
“The Skeptic’s NFL Training Camp Guide: Ugh, it’s NFC South Time”
And Tanier is not just down on the division, he’s down on the Bucs as well.
In past articles, Tanier has mentioned how he thinks the Bucs still believe they can ride the vibes/fumes of the Super Bowl won in February 2021, and use those heady memories as a springboard into postseason success this season. That’s despite the fact only four starters remain from that 2020 championship season.
Tanier has typed in previous articles that in his mind the post-Bruce Arians/Tom Brady Bucs are now a different team, only the Bucs, he believed, haven’t realized it yet.
Tanier mentioned how he has great respect for the grit that drives Baker Mayfield to fight through injuries. But Tanier is of the mind your starting quarterback should offer more than just being a dawg if a team wants to play in late January.
Baker Mayfield, who peaked last October as a kinda-sorta-maybe MVP sleeper, wants a contract extension. Do you want to break the bad news to him, or should we?
Mayfield was playing through a whole anatomy textbook’s worth of injuries last year. No duh: he looked like Wile E. Coyote after an ACME fireworks explosion by halftime of the Rams game. Ten out of ten for toughness, but I don’t think I’m-really-beat-up is the persuasive argument for extending the contract of a 31-year old journeyman that Mayfield thinks it is.
The Joe typing here isn’t anti-Mayfield, but is triggered how the collapse of the Bucs took place last year. Mayfield, twice in his three seasons with the Bucs, limped to the finish line of the regular season with injuries.
And after seeing Mayfield get beat up the way he did last year, and the team’s collapse coinciding with that, this Joe would much prefer to see how Mayfield bounces back before putting a contract in front of him.
Now, Joe types that with the full knowledge the Bucs really want Mayfield back and Mayfield really wants to be back.
Expect Mayfield to be the Bucs quarterback in 2027 and beyond.
The way Mayfield fought his ass off before the bye certainly is a good tease to wonder what the Bucs and Mayfield really could accomplish if he and his offensive teammates can stay healthy.
July 25th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Contract for Mayfield and Vea will come within 7 days of the opening game.
July 25th, 2026 at 12:26 pm
Only 4 leftover starters from the SB win. VV, Winfield, Wirfs and Godwin. Not too surprising in today’s NFL I suppose.
July 25th, 2026 at 12:46 pm
This is the perfect argument on why you wait until next year to make a decision.
July 25th, 2026 at 12:54 pm
Tanier is not wrong, and injuries are indeed no excuse.
Except for Mayfield and the Bucs of course. It wasn’t Baker’s fault. Coaches did everything they could. No way to avoid 3rd and 28. The Dolphins were way tougher than anyone realized, and their scrub no-name quarterback proved he is the South Florida version of future hall of famer Kirk Cousins.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:00 pm
Going to be all the sweeter when they go deep into the playoffs this year.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:01 pm
I don’t think we should sign either one until after a few games, for Vea and after the season for Baker. Baker needs to show that he can be a smart QB. We know he’s tough but we need to see him throw the ball away and sometimes, run out of bounds or slide. We need to see you be a team player and think: I know the team needs me so instead of making an ESPN highlight and trucking this linebacker, I’m going to I’m going to do the smart thing and preserve my body by running out of bounds.”
July 25th, 2026 at 1:25 pm
Mayfield has a lot of tangibles that make for a really good Quarterback, but the one he has yet proven is consistency. He has had ups and downs his entire career and has jumped from team to team – hence journeyman. I am saying he is worth any less than 50 mil a year, but I can see the hesitation from Licht and the Glazer family to play him premium dollars for a player who may be on the downslide of his career.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:26 pm
Simple.
-If you’re running and an unblocked opponent is within 5 yards of you- SLIDE.
-If it’s 3rd or 4th down and you’re within 2-3 yards of a first down/TD, it’s ok to dive instead but no other circumstances!
Baker should be under a lot less pressure this year with the starting offensive line in anyways. Throwing it to Gainwell or Bucky instead of scrambling is an even better option under almost any circumstance.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:29 pm
Toughness only gets you so far. Poise and accuracy are way more important.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:31 pm
To say the Bucs are not the Arians Brady team is a no brainer. The Bucs know it too they just don’t want the fans thinking that. The way the Bucs are going about things they know they are rebuilding the team. The funny thing to me is saying Bowles is on the hot seat. The Bucs know unless a miracle happens he does not have the personnel on defense to win. Bowles knows it Licht knows it and the Glazers know it. However they want the fans to think this is a championship team. The reason they sell tickets. Yes they hope a miracle happens. I urge anyone who knows the game to take a serious look at the current defense. You will find many many big ifs . Yes if the IFS pan out then maybe. However this team needs another big influx of talent on the defense for this team to qualify. However yes maybe Baker and the offense score 30 plus points a game and they will be fun to watch until the defense is on the field
July 25th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Also, I think waiting to make a decision about signing Baker long term is a tragic mistake that will dramatically negatively affect team morale. I was reading an interview of Yaya Diaby where even he said “the clock is ticking” on Baker and we needed to sign him!
Do it!
This team will be far better for it for a long, long time.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:39 pm
The way I see it the scheme on this defense has shown to be problematic. The DC is enamored with adjusting the scheme every summer but for the same results.
If we are heading to a rebuild at the end of the season don’t resign Baker until the new coach approves it.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Almost any other QB other than Lamar Jackson and maybe Jayden Daniels would have gotten killed behind that offensive line last year. We’re fortunate to have Baker and there’s no evidence he’s on the downslide of his career. He’s still young for a QB. And he’s mostly a pocket passer so slowing down a touch wouldn’t affect him all that much anyways. His arm strength is still excellent.
So hopefully there’s no hesitation and they are just working towards the numbers of a compromise that makes sense for both parties and won’t totally eat up all the cap for years. It does go up 25-35 million a year almost every year so it shouldn’t be a huge deal to give him a big raise. He deserves it.
July 25th, 2026 at 1:54 pm
The issue with not extending him is that there’s no one behind him and he’s an above average starter that can win if you have good pieces around him with an actual legitimate nfl head coach. With the right offensive HC he can thrive.
So you have to extend him to some extent. A three year deal that you can get out of after two is a pretty good strategy. It allows you to stay flexible enough that if there’s a guy sitting there in April you can take him.
July 25th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Baker is a bum, always has been always will be
July 25th, 2026 at 2:42 pm
Don’t sign him before start of the 2026 season and he has a great year,. 11 regular season wins and two playoff wins, Bakers gone to another team. Do sign him and it is 2025 all over again, Bucs win 7, stuck with Baker for 2 more years.
It’s a gamble folks win you lose and lose and you lose! Bite the bullet and trade him Now!
July 25th, 2026 at 2:52 pm
Ah yes, trade Baker and take our chances in the draft, because Jason Licht is notorious for drafting awesome quarterbacks. Legendary gameplans in these comments
July 25th, 2026 at 3:07 pm
Chances are 50/50 with this front office that they could pull a PR plunder trying to play cutesy with Baker Mayfield.
July 25th, 2026 at 3:07 pm
Personally, I would trade VV in a heartbeat. The fat lady is singing for the fat man. Get return while you still can.
July 25th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
Mayfield needs to escape the idiocy of many posters on this site. Hope he goes without a 2027 contract and throws for 45 TD’s, 5000 yards and 70% completion rate in 2026.
When he does, Pittsburgh will be calling with a $60mill/yr guaranteed deal for 3 years. That journeyman stuff is just more lunacy. Those that know the real history of injury and betrayal in Cleveland know better. For Munch and company you can probably pry Deshaun Watson loose from Cleveland to be the Bucs QB in 2027.
July 25th, 2026 at 3:41 pm
You know the dirty word no one wants to hear is REBUILD. Doesn’t get discussed much because the Bucs have had some success by winning the division. Ronde Barber said it best in 2025 “this is an average team” and those words stuck in my head. The Bucs really still need several pieces to the puzzle in order to go deep in the playoffs like fans want. Add that to the fact that this team had zero depth. 3rd stringers that are no longer in the NFL don’t count.
July 25th, 2026 at 3:50 pm
It’s about 10 quarterbacks coming out of the draft and this team ain’t dos
July 25th, 2026 at 4:02 pm
Trying to tell ATLBuc he hit the nail on the head. Wow.
July 25th, 2026 at 4:13 pm
It’s 10 quarterbacks coming out this year and the bucs dose not have a superbowl roster . And I don’t know why people want Baker so bad he can’t elevate the team around him and he’s never been a elite quarterback his whole career. We have a young offense and the defense is getting younger. I wish the bucs would just draft a quarterback next year and call it day . We ain’t going or winning a superbowl this or next year with Baker. If they snig him the bucs will be back at the bottom in 2 years. Remember we didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Their is no more excuses for Baker