Baker Mayfield Cites His NFL History Numbers
August 12th, 2026
Baker Mayfield has got the data down — 9, 4, 11 — and it means a lot to him.
During his interview with the 4th and South podcast, Mayfield talked about his maturation as a player and how much his quarterback experience and wisdom translates to the field. He agreed he’s a journeyman quarterback but a franchise QB at the same time.
“Year 9 now, fourth team, 11th OC,” Mayfield said. “It’s been a lot to handle but it also, where I’m at now where the game’s slowed down. [That vast experience] has helped me out to realize what I really like, the [plays] I’m comfortable with checkin in — like third- and fourth-down, gotta-have-it situations.”
Yes, most good quarterbacks improve with age. As Mayfield said about Tom Brady with the Bucs in the same interview, Brady knew what the defense was doing before he reached the center for the snap.
Joe believes Mayfield is improving and has improved since he’s been in Tampa. But that’s what makes Mayfield’s hiccup last season more troubling. He struggled as the Bucs lost to the Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins in succession to choke away the season.
August 12th, 2026 at 8:45 am
Name one team that will give him 4 years $200 million guaranteed.
The Bucs offered him a 30% raise and 2 year extension to show he can be a consistent winner. He feels disrespected.
Ok , so show the NFL world this season that you know how to avoid sacks, avoid turnovers and lead the team deep in the playoffs.
True, he hasn’t had coaches like Josh McDaniels or Bill Walsh, or Andy Reid except for Coen, so that has been a factor.
He isn’t in a bad situation, just needs to play smarter and be himself and the money will work out for himself.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:01 am
Vs a 3 Win AINTS team
3rd Quarter INT
Final drive with a chance to win the game they couldn’t get ONE first down
ATL Thursday Night Football All eyes on the Bucs
Baker 4th quarter INT
@ Carolina
Chance to win/tie the game & Baker throws a INT
@Miami vs a tanking team and a rookie QB
Baker throws a 4 quarter INT also had a fumble lost
STOP saying Baker is good under pressure or is getting better or seeing the field great. 4 games down the stretch and he FAILED week after week
August 12th, 2026 at 9:03 am
He’s 58-62 as a QB1 in the NFL. In other words not worth $50 million a year.
And please don’t mention him in the same conversation with Brady.
TB12 wanted to win titles above all else. And took a pay cut to do so.
Baker flopped like a fish in 2025 and wants to hamstring the organization with a ridiculous contract.
Trade him now along with VV.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Interesting how he mentioned Brady pre snap, when that was HIS OWN Problem #1 last season. “Alanbucsfan” is 💯 correct about the 4-YEAR/$200-MILLION Fully Guaranteed. Absolutely NO ONE, would commit to THAT right now, IF the Bucs were to put him out freely on the open market. NO ONE. And, his actual “PLAY” on the field, is NOT the only reason for WHY that is. Neither is it JUST due to his size, injury history, OR age. There are many MANY different reasons, that factor into the equation of the book of Mayfield.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:12 am
For crying out loud, give it a rest with the “took a pay cut” thing. Brady and his wife had a net worth of $400M when he signed with the Bucs.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:17 am
Thank you, Joe, for throwing more chum in the water. Maybe we need to resign Trask and make him our starter
August 12th, 2026 at 9:19 am
He struggled as the Bucs lost to the Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins in succession to choke away the season.,,,,,
Come’on man, that whole team struggled, Joes’s you are being lazy by stating it this way. Name one player that played at a high level in everyone of those games, name one coach that did not struggle during that time frame, name one unit that did not struggle during that time frame. But it is Mayfield that struggled and lost the games, mind boggling.
Now I will say that every player especially Mayfield, every coach, every unit and yes Jason Licht has to prove themselves this year or heads need to roll. Every last one of them especially Mayfield if he is playing with a healthy unit needs to produce at a high level.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:24 am
@JustVisiting
It doesn’t matter what his net worth already was when he came to the Bucs.
He could have justifiably demanded to be the highest paid QB in history after leaving the Patriots. But he didn’t and it helped us win a title.
Name one QB that has won a title after getting paid $50+ million a year.
I’ll wait.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:31 am
Brady knew what the defense was doing before the defense knew what it was doing. That’s not just a clever turn of phrase. I’ve seen some highlights of the Brady years recently on twixxer and, my goodness, I’d forgotten how really great we had it. Baker is a different animal but we can win with him with the right supporting cast.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:32 am
There are ultimately just 2 types of NFL quarterbacks – those who can be the definite reason why their teams reach Super Bowls – and those who aren’t.
There are very few who can true championship capability right now. Mahomes, Burrow and Stafford(?) come to mind. In another world where Mahomes wasn’t playing in the AFC we could include Allen and Jackson. But neither have been able to do it yet.
Then there’s everyone else with holes in their game analysts and fans try to project as being good enough. For them to get to and win the big game they need help. Either an extremely talented skill group or a top 5 defense. Or some combination of both. Mayfield and almost every other NFL QB is in this category. The more you pay them like a Mahomes or a Burrow the more you take away from getting what they need to win it all. Guys like him want the pay, the feel good validation and the guarantees against injury – but handing it over is a slap in the face to the idea that winning championships is the most important goal of all.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:36 am
Name one QB that has won a title after getting paid $50+ million a year.
I’ll wait.
Due to inflation. $50 Million today Vs. 5 years ago would equate to $38 Million. This salary cap thing is not accounting for inflation and should be much higher. ALL of us are taking it in the shorts because of it.
Do I feel sorry for any of them…. heck no, I have sympathy for the guy trying to support a family.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:36 am
“Joe believes Mayfield is improving and has improved since he’s been in Tampa. But that’s what makes Mayfield’s hiccup last season more troubling. He struggled as the Bucs lost to the Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins in succession to choke away the season.”
Talking out of both sides of your mouth here. How can you improve and have “hiccups” against teams with defenses in the bottom half of the league? By Joe’s own notes hes still over/under throwing WRs so where’s the improvement there? How can you improve by helping your team miss the playoffs when you went to the playoffs the year before?
Just let the games begin. He can show us better than he can tell us. But we all know hes the same guy hes always been….just older.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:42 am
Ask yourself why Brady struggled in 2022. He didn’t forget how to play. Yes, there were the distractions in his personal life, but roster turnover especially on the oline and the injury to Ryan Jensen played a big role as well. The defense also took a step back. Baker took a step back after carrying the team for the first half and then the team injuries and his own made it impossible to sustain that level of play, even with some injured players returning. If he hadn’t have played injured and just sat out some games , everyone would be wondering about what could have been instead of having doubts about what can be moving forward.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:49 am
Oscar
Keep in mind you’re comparing a QB in his early 40s to a QB in his early 30s. Two completely different worlds. Brady was definitely seeing ghosts and hearing footsteps but he could drop it in the bucket 60 yds downfield to Evans for 3 TDs in the same game. When has Bake done that?
You can’t compare Brady to anyone!
August 12th, 2026 at 9:52 am
Alanbucsfan Says:
“The Bucs offered him a 30% raise and 2 year extension to show he can be a consistent winner. He feels disrespected.”
And none of it guaranteed. That’s where his hangup is.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:54 am
Bee
PREACH!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
August 12th, 2026 at 9:54 am
BM6 has lots of experience. Lots of playbooks and ways to read the D. Time for him to show us what all this translates too! Under Coen he shined! Time for an encore!!!!
August 12th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Sooner or later, all players will arrive at the end of their useful shelf life. When that is going to happen, no one knows for certain. Some quarterbacks play late into their thirties, some don’t. Brees, Rogers, Brady obviously are examples of those that did. Bradshaw and Aikman are two examples of those that didn’t. What marked the beginning of the end for those two was not diminishment of their skills but rather the inability to stay healthy. Baker is the type at risk for that unless he changes the way he plays now. If he has truly improved as far as his ability to understand the game, he should rely on that more and less on his physical style of play.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:03 am
Bee, I was comparing the Brady of 2020 and 2021 with the Brady of 2022 and what changed to cause a drop off in play. I wasn’t comparing their respective abilities.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:18 am
Mayfield owns his poor statistics whether he deserves it or not. Same is true for Todd Bowles. What matters is what happens in 2026. The Glazers have made it clear with its key players like Mayfield and Vita. Get this team to the playoffs and you will be rewarded.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:27 am
The problem is
Mayfield thinks he is a top 5 QB
The Buc fans think he is top 10
Local Media thinks top 15
National Analyst have him outside the top 15
Even Top 5 QBs can’t win the Super Bowl after they get paid because they lose their supporting cast.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:38 am
CosmoKramer,
Safe bet it mattered to Brady when he made his decision. I also doubt the Bucs would have taken him at full price (although I could certainly be wrong). He made a choice that reflected where he (and his stock portfolio) were in his career.
As for naming QB accomplishments, I don’t have a lot of NFL knowledge. I was mostly a college ball guy before NIL and transfer portals made it more commercial than the pros.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:38 am
Yep, alllllll Baker’s fault!! How dare he lose against a tanking miami team and not tackle that rookie QB!!! How DARE HE!!! GRRRRR!!!!
August 12th, 2026 at 10:47 am
“He struggled as the Bucs lost to the Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins in succession to choke away the season.,,,,,”
Yes, he struggled in those games, very disappointing, however, do you think they win the early games against the Texans, Jets and Seahawks without him? I am all for not overpaying, but its a gamble on everyones part. If Baker plays well in 2026, the price goes way up. If not, then the Bucs let him walk and start fresh.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:57 am
People claim the Bucs are in a trash division and first-round playoff games are meaningless. Then they go on to claim that there are clutch situations in which Baker fails. In their scenarios, there are no clutch situations. Calling the second half of the NFC South’s season last year a stretch run as the teams backed into each other is fatuous. Either the team plays important games or they don’t. You can’t have it both ways.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:04 am
if baker was healthy all year last year the outcome wouldnt have been much different. his play diminished the way the entire team did due to physical and mental injuries and lapses as well as coaching that was sub par in all three parts of the team, offense, defense, and special teams.
when he could he put the offense on his back and carried it as far as he could as we repeatedly saw. when he was no longer able, he didnt. not sure why that is so hard to comprehend. at least he wasnt some lazy a ss like some of the players STILL getting a paycheck from the bucs.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:13 am
magoobee … ‘Even Top 5 QBs can’t win the Super Bowl after they get paid because they lose their supporting cast.’
You can do a LOT of massaging with the salary CAP to build a supporting cast, but as we’ve seen in Tampa, EVENTUALLY the salary CAP catches up with you if you go all-in to chase the Lombardi. And you typically pay a price for several years (ask the Bucs & Saints) until you get it back under control. And yes, it’s the super-high salaries that do you in.
In any given year, a team’s salary CAP MAY actually be rather meaningless, but eventually you have to pay the piper. Using Tom Brady’s contracts with us as an example:
In 2020 with BA as our HC, Tom Brady signed a 2-year $50 mil contract. That was ‘extended’ in 2021 (after we won the SB) to a new 2-year $50 mil contract. In 2022 when Bowles took over as HC, Brady signed a $15 mil ‘restructured’ contract. SHOULD come out to $65 mil if you add those numbers (25-25-15), but nope, he actually made $97.8 mil in those 3 years.
o 2020: $28,375,000 (from his initial 2-year, $50 million fully guaranteed contract plus roster adjustments/incentives)
o 2021: $39,420,588 (including a 1-year extension and extra earnings for leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns)
o 2022: $30,000,000 (via a 1-year restructured extension combining a reduced base salary and prorated bonus allocation)
Math is a tricky thing, and sometimes what you see isn’t always what you get. Bucs paid a monstrous cost in Dead CAP for 2022 ($25.6 mil), 2023 ($81.6 mil), 2024 ($62.5 mil), and in 2025 ($43.2 mil). This year our Dead CAP has been reduced all the way to $13.5 mil. Bucs PAID THE PIPER big-time to get our salary CAP back under control.
The key way that it shows IMO is in the quality of TALENT that you can afford. We did our best to keep quality starters for the most part, but we were hurting IMO when it came to having quality DEPTH players. And when the injuries mounted, that lack of depth cost us. There are very few starting QBs in the NFL who can compensate for a poor supporting cast. Baker’s not one of them.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:32 am
I’m not sure why everyone puts last year on Baker. Watch the special. He played the first half of the year without most of his starting OL and other starters. He turned back up receivers into pros, he gutted out wins despite a bad defense and OC, hurt himself in saving those games and then played injured when he had his starter back…and we still lost that game due to bad defense or we would have bene in the playoffs again. This isn’t a Baker problem (or if it is, I can understand it being an outlier), it’s an organizational problem. Can’t keep players, can’t keep (good) coaches and don’t reward the ones that give you the most.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:33 am
I’m not sure why everyone puts last year on Baker. Watch the special. He played the first half of the year without most of his starting OL and other starters. He turned back up receivers into pros, he gutted out wins despite a bad defense and OC, hurt himself in saving those games and then played injured when he had his starter back…and we still lost that game due to bad defense or we would have bene in the playoffs again. This isn’t a Baker problem (or if it is, I can understand it being an outlier), it’s an organizational problem. Can’t keep players, can’t keep (good) coaches and don’t reward the ones that give you the most.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:35 am
Baker played great all year. It was injuries and bad luck.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:50 am
Mahomes was 16% of the team salary cap one year and 17% of the salary cap for his team another year winning Super Bowls.
This theory that you cannot win a Super Bowl with someone taking 15 to 20 percent of your cap hit for that year is just false.
Since 1994 when the cap era started:
Young, Favre, Mahomes, Brady, the two Mannings, and Stafford have won Super Bowls taking up over 10 precent of cap space.
So, it seems more likely a team can win with strength in other areas of the roster and a QB on a good deal.
But clearly Baker is not in the same class as any one of those guys.
August 12th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
Geno712. “clearly Baker is not in the same class”.
Steve Young, in a 15 year career, barely is ahead in all categories of Baker in his first eight years. Young’s best 8 year stretch is nowhere near Baker’s only 8 year stretch. And Baker kills Eli Manning in every stat their first 8 years.
Except Super Bowl wins. Look at that Giants and Niners defense when they won those Super Bowls.
It’s not “clearly”Geno712. It’s your opinion, Geno712. And we all know about opinions. At least you aren’t letting them get in the way of facts, Geno712.
August 12th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
He won’t say it but he thinks he deserves/wants “back pay.”