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 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
July 25th, 2026 at 4:30 pm
As players get older they tend to get injured more and heal slower. Baker has a history of being injured and was unable to heal during the 2025 season.
July 25th, 2026 at 4:52 pm
Anybody seen anything about Kyle Shanahan, the head coach of the 49ers?
Supposedly, he was in a horrific car crash today near his California home.
Trying to find out more about this.
The New York Post just commented on Facebook
July 25th, 2026 at 4:53 pm
Never mind. Accident for Kyle Shanahan was on July 14. New York Post just put this out today for some reason.
Sounds like he just had a severe concussion and some minor other stuff.
July 25th, 2026 at 4:58 pm
glad someone broke the news hopefully to him. 30 million this year is plenty for his bravery and fourth quarter pics and fumbles, love baker but c’mon stop being greedy
July 25th, 2026 at 5:06 pm
Nic Scourton carted off Panthers practice with torn ACL
July 25th, 2026 at 6:11 pm
Just let me know if they sign him…..
July 25th, 2026 at 6:17 pm
No blocking leads to no poise no accuracy! Sorry bout your luck but mayfield is mayfield take it or leave it ,hes a football player that plays qb..Desperate men do Desperate sh!+! I’ll take him he makes plays…
July 25th, 2026 at 6:34 pm
How idiotic is it to think that injuries aren’t an excuse for poor play.
July 25th, 2026 at 7:21 pm
@ Wyoming Joe..People need someone to blame its usually the qb ,pitcher etc.. Its in our DNA…
Great name by the way..
July 25th, 2026 at 7:57 pm
“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.”
It’s the exact same thing that myself, and Colin Cowherd have been saying all along… We “like” Baker. It’s just once you start getting over that $40-MILLION mark per season tho… Is when you start “liking” HIM a whole lot less and less, the further and further away, you go above that number. It’s what all these “Baker Bois” (NOT Bucs Fans), continue to completely gloss over and fail to mention. There is a point, where it doesn’t make good SENSE. For a still immature, now 32-YEAR OLD, beaten up and banged up, aging and inconsistent, not good enough Quarterback, who is a HUGE distraction. Paying TOP of the market money LONGTERM, is a “Death Wish” for the entire organization. If the Bucs are not very careful here, they will go from being in a bad spot currently, to an absolute total complete DISASTER overnight.
July 25th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
You don’t love Baker mj!! Lol
July 25th, 2026 at 8:15 pm
It would actually be extremely RECKLESS for the Bucs to NOT take advantage of having this one free season, in order to take a step back, and use it as a tough and honest evaluation year. There will be a MAJOR DECLINE coming SOON. And, when it does… It’s not going to be very pretty. I mean, they don’t call-it a “CLIFF” for nothing. Baker. Will. NOT. Age. Well. He’s undersized AND already beaten up TO HELL. How do we not know 💯 that those last 11-GAMES of last season, wasn’t just the very BEGINNING. You ‘play-out’ this season FIRST. There are VERY FEW Quarterbacks (or anyone else), who are still playing at an “ELITE” level, beyond the age of 35. Just period, but you’re talking about a consistently banged-up, and undersized one, here.
July 25th, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Oscar – Um, NO. There’s just too much there not to even like, in order to be able to LOVE.
July 25th, 2026 at 8:18 pm
Nah I give him until week 5. he’ll still be running around like crazy because he can’t see over the line and to compensate for not being able to break down defense he runs with toughness. That works against mediocre teams but I want my QB to last the entire season, sit back in the pocket checkdown or throw it away
July 25th, 2026 at 8:44 pm
I don’t know what will happen, but if Baker gets a substantial extension, there will be a lot of bummed out folks on this site.
July 25th, 2026 at 9:18 pm
Sign BM6 and keep him until someone shows they are better for the job. I don’t believe that will happen to soon. That’s not a bad thing.
July 25th, 2026 at 9:37 pm
Years ago, there was another person singing the same tune… And, I also agreed with him at the time! It was Dan Patrick… Every single day on his radio show! Due to HIS OWN EGO, Baker dug his foot into the ground and insisted on resetting the entire “Quarterback” MARKET. And, in the exact same process, only screwed HIMSELF. Now, he still probably would’ve been traded, BUT he’d had a guaranteed CONTRACT, and given other teams at the time, a totally different prospective of himself. He definitely made it A LOT more difficult on HIMSELF (tho I’d say that’s been very typical, throughout his entire life), as well as his financial situation. But, Dan would say EVERYDAY, that there has to be a “middle ground” SOMEWHERE, RIGHT!? It was the exact same thing that I’d been saying then, for quite awhile… Also, WHY is it that literally EVERY QB ‘thinks’ THEY have to reset the QB-MARKET, and are entitled to do so!? I mean, it was SO RIDICULOUS. Dan was actually the very first one to FINALLY SAY IT!!! It never made ANY sense to me. You either, had to PAY your young QB at the very TOP of the market on his 2nd-contract, OR you just had to let him go for nothing… There was no “middle ground” whatsoever, and that just made absolutely NO SENSE TO ME. We’ll see what happens with this next bunch… There will be A LOT of em in the next 6-years, including this upcoming draft-class. It will be interesting to see how teams have learned their lessons in the past, and how they all respond into the future with these 2nd-contracts. With that said, you’d THINK that maybe BAKER would’ve learned his lesson… BUT, Baker doesn’t appear to be the type of guy, who has been very high on learning such things.
July 25th, 2026 at 10:22 pm
Some of these people act as if they have totally forgotten about the fact that Baker is ALREADY SIGNED, and is currently UNDER CONTRACT for this upcoming season. Also, that the 2027 season is still a VERY loooooong ways away, and with A LOT that is still left to be determined. A LOT can and will happen between now and then. 💯 The Bucs need to take full advantage for once, when they can. Be SMART. This is NOT the time for such careless moves. You just have to see what happens with this season FIRST, before fully committing to ANY FREAKING THING ELSE.
July 25th, 2026 at 10:26 pm
I love it when the Baker Haters say that he’s too small to see over his offensive line. Well, Baker is 6’ 5/8” and can’t see over the line, but Mahomes is 6’2” and apparently doesn’t have any problem at all! Guess that 3/8 of an inch really matters!
July 25th, 2026 at 10:28 pm
Tomorrow’s the big day!
July 25th, 2026 at 10:39 pm
MelvinJunior, you do realize there has been no evidence that he is trying to reset the market, right?
The only thing we’ve seen is unsourced rumors.
The truth is this:
He already has a deal. The Bucs made an initial offer. His agent is trying to get them higher, but if it comes down to it, he can accept the initial offer (or one of the following offers).
Put yourself into Baker’s place for a moment. He knows there is a very good chasnce Todd Bowles will not be here after this year.
That means next year, we might have a coach who does not want him. So, if he actually wants to stay with the team, it’s less about the amount and more about the length and guarantee.
Odds are, they offered at least two years guaranteed. That means he’s hoping for three…but if they don’t do it, he’ll take the next best offer they make…even if it even if it is the initial offer.
The media wants a story, so they are saying there is a chance he’ll wait…but he won’t.
July 25th, 2026 at 11:13 pm
I like Mike, but his blindspots are egregious. “The Bucs have gotten how to beat teams like the Seahawks”, hmmm? He did say he watches the games with his eyes closed, maybe he didn’t see it.
July 26th, 2026 at 4:32 am
If its more than $50 Million he wants I say let him play and next year Franchise Tag him. I think he could be just fine if he would play smart.
Rarely do we see that. He makes some plays out of nothing but also forces the ball way too much. That might slow down some now with Mike gone.
He has all the toys he could want to play good football.
There would be zero excuses after this year and then you pay him accordingly.
July 26th, 2026 at 5:32 am
Looking forward to the start of training camp, and the up coming season. Tired of hearing about how much money players are getting paid. Next week 91 players will be fighting for 53 jobs, and almost every story is about one man’s contract. Gentlemen, play ball!!
July 26th, 2026 at 8:29 am
A five win season is headed our way…..
July 26th, 2026 at 8:30 am
#6 is not worth 50mil, no way no how……
July 26th, 2026 at 8:59 am
If you compare his performance/ production for the last 3 seasons without bias you see that he’s earned a substantial pay raise. Remember he played a whole season on a one year 5 million prove it deal. He proved it. No one knows the numbers or terms being offered. Jason light will make sure it’s fair but team friendly. Should be 3 year deal and trade up in 2027 draft for a qb. If we don’t get the deal done we will be back to Mke Glennon days… there is not a good second option because Jason hasn’t drafted and probably won’t draft a first round QB.
Starting NFL QBs are few and far between. Many lesser teams will be happy to bid for Bakers services such as Pittsburgh, Falcons, Saints, Cardinals, Panthers, Jets
Giants, Etc…
July 26th, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Extend him yes, but for how long? Many elite QB’s are good in their mid-30s. But Baker is a shade below elite, and he’s not a classic drop back passer. His value depends on taking hits and still performing well. Setting up a big cap hit in three or four years from now if he declines fast would hurt the team’s ability to retain its best players. So if he demands an extension of longer than two years, I’d recommend not giving him one. If his play goes down the toilet again in the last third of the season, they can offer him a short term extension in the off season and draft the best QB prospect they can.
July 26th, 2026 at 3:22 pm
I’m glad Joe began by telling us that the guy is a comedian writing about football. Some people seem to have missed that.
July 27th, 2026 at 11:19 am
I can’t remember which Joe said this on the podcast, but it really is a marriage or convenience for both the Bucs and Baker.
If you’re the Bucs, who else are you going to get?
If you’re Baker, where else are you going to go?