Zac Robinson: Baker Mayfield Is Not Distracted
August 6th, 2026
Locked in.
The funny thing to Joe about the contract hassles Baker Mayfield and defensive tackle Vea Vea are going through is it has a lot of folks bellyaching about distractions.
As Joe likes to say, distractions are distractions if you let them be distractions.
Asked Tuesday if Mayfield is scatterbrained and wigged out because he doesn’t have a contract signed for 2027 and beyond, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said Mayfield is fully locked in.
“Baker has been Baker,” Robinson. “The contract stuff has been out there, but you haven’t been able to tell.
“[Mayfield] comes in, he’s the exact same guy every single day – competitive, wants to know what’s on the script, what we’ve got, what the defense is doing.
“You would not be able to tell at all [what’s] going on. I know he said it, but he’s been all ball, and he means it. That’s exactly what he’s been every day.”
Joe believes the narrative that an upset Mayfield will automatically play lights out is overplayed. So too is the narrative floating out there that Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht hatched a devious Bill Belicheat-like scheme to purposely anger Mayfield in order for him to play at peak performance.
There are all kinds of ways Licht could motivate Mayfield rather than going through the trouble of getting his franchise quarterback peeved.
Slipping Benjamins to Dave Portnoy, screamin’ Stephen A. Smith and Colin Cowherd for them to sh!ttalk Mayfield on national television on almost a daily basis would likely garner the same results, and not get Mayfield ticked off at the Bucs franchise.
August 6th, 2026 at 7:12 am
Level headed article Joey. I tend to think the Mayfitld distraction/disgruntled hype machine is a bit over played
Does Baker want a fat, new contract to secure his family and know he’s settled into Tampa Bay for the long haul? You bet. Does Baker hate the Bucs and will walk away from huge contract after this season if that’s how things play out? No chance. Does the fact Baker is playing on the last year of his contract somehow “distracting” others players while they practice and prepare for the season? Laughable.
August 6th, 2026 at 7:14 am
Mayfield is not much of a distr
VV ABSOLUTELY is !
The old saying
There is no me in team .
VV is either dumb or getting bad advice, probably both!
He should not be allowed on the Bucs facility!
August 6th, 2026 at 7:27 am
VV has Harry distracted. I want to see what the front 7 can do. The potential is that this defense can be very good (“hope” the CB talent is ok). I want to see the potential come out for Bain, Walker, Yaya and Trotter. That can only happen if VV is drawing those double teams.
August 6th, 2026 at 7:32 am
Of course zac is going to say that we will see when the season starts and how far along the team gets before we start hearing we got to coach it better and play it better.
August 6th, 2026 at 8:23 am
@Fanofdabucs: Nice post. You remind me of Herm Edwards bro. He is known for asking himself a question and then answering it.
August 6th, 2026 at 8:46 am
Mayfield knows how the game of negotiation is played out in the NFL, especially with his start with the dysfunctional Cleveland Browns. All the media frantic stories are attempts to fill the void before the NFL season actually starts
Good analysts will usually do their job professionally by actually doing their Due Diligence and the others are slinging it all over the place. Be careful 🧐 to duck when it’s coming your way.
August 6th, 2026 at 9:25 am
Funny, Baker was offered $50 million+. I googled what does that say about you as a quarterback. It said, you are considered an elite, rare talent at the most important position in sports. The team views you as the absolute face of the franchise, vital for ticket sales TV ratings and team relevancy. That word elite is interesting. So Baker is considered elite by the owners, the coaches and the front office. I love it. We have an elite franchise quarterback. 😂 now that we have a elite franchise qb let’s build this team around him and get to the superbowl.
August 6th, 2026 at 11:34 am
Golfers can get distracted. If football players do, they get clocked.
August 6th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
There’s no “I” in team is the saying, team has a “me” in it