Baker Mayfield Among Highest-Paid NFL Quarterbacks; 2029 Not Guaranteed
September 9th, 2026
Screenshot courtesy of CBS Sports HQ.
Based on annual value, Team Glazer backed up its love for Baker Mayfield with one of the richest contracts for any quarterback.
Based on annual salary, Mayfield is now getting paid as much as Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Dak Prescott. This comes by way of CBS Sports HQ (see above graphic).
And yesterday, speaking on CBS Sports HQ, NFL columnist prickly Pete Prisco hailed the deal as a win-win for both the Bucs and Mayfield.
“It’s good for the organization,” Prisco declared. “I mean, the organization wanted him around. I mean, he was their guy. It was just a matter of getting the money right and getting the deal right.
“[Mayfield] was insulted by the offer they made to him. But look, it didn’t include a third year. So obviously, the team went back, reevaluated, and said, ‘Look, we have to include a third year, and that makes Baker happy because look, this is exactly what he wanted.’ He wanted a three-year deal.
“The commitment of, you know, $55 million per year puts them right near the top of the quarterback market, which is exactly what [Mayfield] wanted. So it’s a great deal for him.”
Albert Breer of SI.com, along with other news types, have noted that Mayfield got a raise this season from $40 million to $50 million, and he does not have his 2029 contract for $55 million guaranteed.
So while $55 million will be inexpensive for a starting QB by 2029, the Bucs can bail on the Mayfield contract at that time without an issue.
As always, with money comes expectations. With the talent around Mayfield on offense, winning a playoff game should not be considered an unreachable goal.
The Team Glazer loot the Bucs dropped at Mayfield’s feet shows they believe he is that guy to make a playoff run. Pressure is now on KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles to ensure Mayfield reaches expectations that come with being among the highest paid signal callers.
"It's a great deal for him, it's a great deal for the organization."@PriscoCBS on Baker Mayfield's extension with the Bucs. pic.twitter.com/OjKpRqXIHw
— NFL on CBS đ (@NFLonCBS) September 8, 2026
September 9th, 2026 at 9:05 am
$55M for a starting QB in 2029 is going to be chump change. Barring injury, there’s no reason for the Bucs and Mayfield to part ways.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:09 am
happy the bucs are able to get out of it in 29…solid deal for both sides…
pressure is on baker and bowles to get it done….NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OR BUST
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 9th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Seems reasonable to me. I didn’t realize his 2026 salary was increased, which I dislike on principle, if true. People should honor their contracts. That’s the only issue I see, though.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:25 am
Editorialized by putting Baker on top of the 55mil list. He should be on the bottom as all the others will resign before him and have higher salaries first. You can make numbers say whatever you want. Pathetic.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:28 am
Same hoopla about contract extension will occur before 2029 plays out, assuming things go well between now and then. So the non-guaranteed money in 2029 may be irrelevant if we have to go through this all over again. Baker will be 34 at that time. Another big question – will Bowles still have the same pants size at that time?
September 9th, 2026 at 9:29 am
The guy deserves it, hereâs hoping he can focus and get make this offense dangerous. Congrats to him and his family
September 9th, 2026 at 9:37 am
JustVisiting, do some research on how NFL contracts work. Thatâs an ignorant opinion based on facts.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:45 am
So the glazers added new money and a club option for â29 to their original offer.
Smart move by baker to accept.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:46 am
His top 3 salary is tied with 5 other guys, so really Top 8 money. So stoked! Baker gonna Bake.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:55 am
Baker is âhappyâ and âgot exactly what he wantedâ – great – Vita got what he wanted too – so did Deshaun Watson – did Belichick give his players everything they wanted ? I guess there is a difference in mentality between the Patriots and the Bucs – and it shows up in the record book – Culverhouse was not a good owner and didnât make players happy – but the Glazers go cap in hand to the Raiders and beg them to loan out Chucky for a few years – then they prostrate themselves before King Brady to come in and kick the organization in the butt – and some call Licht a great GM ? Pathetic
September 9th, 2026 at 10:05 am
Good to get this distraction out of the way. Still need a legitimate backup QB who has NFL experience.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:05 am
Here’s to hoping the Bucs made the right decision to sign a guy early who hasent put a consistent season together not once yet and has proven to be a massive choker in the playoffs. I highly doubt it though.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:06 am
BA’s Red Pen: I assume you mean it’s an ignorant opinion +not+ based on facts? Actually, it’s a well-informed statement of personal values, neither specific to the NFL, nor based on how NFL contracts work. You may hold a different opinion, of course, but that’s all it is.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:06 am
I’m sure some of us are old enough to remember when the Bucs bailed on their franchise quarterback of the time by not agreeing to pay him $650,000. The comparable deal back then to what baker just signed would have given Doug Williams a 3-year just under 2 million contract! Talk about inflation. So thank goodness we don’t have an ownership group as cheap and destructive as the previous one. Not only did they fumble the quarterback situation, they completely wasted a premium draft pick by choosing a player who swore. He would never play for the franchise after we screwed him out of his college eligibility (Bo Jackson for those who don’t remember). So all things considered I’m okay with the deal. Really like that. We can get out of it in a couple years if needed. And as others have done, if you average the current contract with all the years he’s already played here and what we paid him, it’s not terrible compensation over the Long haul.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:11 am
No excuses.. NO REGRATS (NOT EVEN THAT TATTOO). “JUST WIN BABY” -AL DAVIS
September 9th, 2026 at 10:13 am
Iâm just going to say this: part of the reason TB12 won so many super bowls was that he always took less than market salary for his level of play, so the team could afford other players. He also was smart enough to know when to dirt the ball, or dive on the ground when he was gonna get creamed by the defense. Baker insisted on a me-first salary and plays hero ball. Letâs see what this results in.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:21 am
I admire TB12’s approach to contracts, but it’s clearly not the norm. As for Mayfield protecting himself, hopefully the team won’t make it necessary that he play the hero. At that point, it’s obviously on him.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:23 am
Homer, Mayfield may end up playing maybe one year of so-called me first salary. Because the market changes so quickly that his contract will look pedestrian soon enough. And of course I assume you consider every player in the graphic above to also be getting a me first salary. In the time that he’s already been here, he played for relative pennies his first year. Then he got a decent second tier contract that just finished. So, a total of 4 years of non-me first money. It’s not like the guy has been unreasonable.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:23 am
Organizationally, it’s a good deal as the salary cap will continue to go up. He’s not the third highest paid QB. He’s among the upper mid-tier QBs making $55m market rate, nothing to see here.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:32 am
This contract pleases the owners and Baker
Baker wanted Top -5 pay, the owners wanted 2 years
Basically, they both got what they wanted
September 9th, 2026 at 10:33 am
OUCH…
Hope it works out, but all it guarantees is he’s going to have another 4 game losing streak the next 3 seasons and no serious threat to win a title
September 9th, 2026 at 10:41 am
It’s an extension, not a new overall deal. You guys are missing Baker’s 2026 salary which makes his average yearly pay about $48M per season over the next 4 seasons – or $192M in total cash paid out.
The Bucs scored a small win because Baker’s current contract wasn’t torn up but had the new money added on.
It’s a win-win for everyone, but his 2026 salary *is* part of his overall deal. I’m pretty damn sure the Bucs look at it that way at least.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:45 am
I am big enough to admit when I was wrong. I did not think the Glazers would put the money the market dictates for any QB. Good for them, good for the Bucs and good for Baker.
So now the argument can switch from how smart/stupid it would be to extend Baker to how smart/stupid the extension was.
There are two sayings that have always been true and will always e true.
1. “The QB always gets too much credit for a win and too much blame for a loss” There was an average 124 plays last year in an NFL game. Fans will pick out one play and say that one play is the sole reason the team won/lost. They forget that in order for the last minute TD to be the game winner, the D make a great stop 9 minutes into the first quarter to stop an opponents score, or conversely, they forget that the one missed pass or interception that “singlehandedly” cost the game was preceded by the D only forcing one punt all day.
2. “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Originally coined about baseball but it applies equally here. I can make the argument by cherry picking stats that Baker is a top 5 QB and a bottom 5 QB. I don’t think he is either.
But there are two truths that nobody can really argue about. First. salaries always go up in the NFL, along with the salary cap. I don’t think by the 2029 season the Baker’s salary will even be in the top half of the league.
The Cap is the same for every team and it is completely fungible. The two differences between teams is how well they manipulate the cap and what do you spend the cap on. Let me lay to rest the myth that if you pay a QB a lot of money the entire rest of the team suffers. This isn’t stats, it hard, real numbers.
The Bucs roster is ranked 18 by the big sports network. Of the top 10, NINE of them had a larger cap hit for the years 2023-2026 for their QB than the Bucs. Yet they all landed in the top 10 and the Bucs are in the bottom half of the league. Even the Rams, universally picked as the favorite to win the SB, could find $20M late in the preseason to sign Aaron Donald, despite paying Stafford $53M/year. Now any GM who couldn’t do that for Donald should be fired immediately but that is a different story. There is no evidence that paying a QB the going rate costs the team the ability to put a winning team on the field. There is a lot of evidence that some GMs can do that and some can’t however.
September 9th, 2026 at 11:20 am
So pressure wasnât on Todd?
September 9th, 2026 at 11:25 am
Critmark Says:
Even the Rams, universally picked as the favorite to win the SB, could find $20M late in the preseason to sign Aaron Donald, despite paying Stafford $53M/year.
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Did you notice the Rams added 4(!) void years to his 1 year contract? I think any GM could find a way to sign almost anyone doing it that way.
September 9th, 2026 at 11:42 am
Not even a pause to consider these are outrageous amounts of money and the NFL will break at some point. $55M in 17 games for a sport with over 50 players per side. Complete lunacy.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
So he got a 10mil raise for 2026, guaranteed 55 mil for 2027 and 2028. No guarantee for 2029 so itâs literally a 2 year deal at 55 mil each. Itâs win win.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
I remember buying a gallon of gas for 19 cents on my bicycle too. Country still going. Don’t be an old curmudgeon.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
View from Modern Times Says:
Not even a pause to consider these are outrageous amounts of money and the NFL will break at some point. $55M in 17 games for a sport with over 50 players per side. Complete lunacy.
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Plenty of people pause. They don’t talk about it but they do. Not that much different than what famous actors get paid to make a movie. Both are doing the same thing – entertaining us – but at least with sports the show lasts for months each year.
All of the money they get ultimately comes from people like us. Networks buy the TV rights and sell ad space to companies who want to flood us with begging to choose their product. People keep buying them which makes them keep buying ad space which makes networks stick to paying billions to broadcast NFL games.
All of it is traceable back to everyday people who can’t get enough football.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:19 pm
an above post yapping about bellichick: Bill didnât pay Brady and Gronk so they came to Bucs and won yet another Superbowl. Bills done nothing since then and currently coaching some low level college with his loser son and close to being fired. Not apples vs apples if you understand that.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
LouisFriend Says: “Did you notice the Rams added 4(!) void years to his 1 year contract? I think any GM could find a way to sign almost anyone doing it that way.”
I absolutely saw it. That is why I said the Cap is totally fungible. The question is this: Would you like to see your favorite team do that to win a SB? The Rams organization thinks it is an acceptable trade off.
September 9th, 2026 at 1:42 pm
LouisFriend Says: Did you notice the Rams added 4(!) void years to his 1 year contract? I think any GM could find a way to sign almost anyone doing it that way.
Of course I noticed. That is why I said the cap is totally fungible. Would like to see your teams do the same in exchange for a SB? The Rams think it is worth the risk.
September 9th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Top-10 is about right for Baker.
He’s now equal to #3-#9. That’s fair
September 9th, 2026 at 2:03 pm
The $55 million in 2029 ain’t happening. If he balls out, he’ll get another new contract. If not, he gone. Just saying.
September 9th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Sorry for the double post. I tried to post the first one and waited an hour before posting the second one. Of course, then both appeared?????????
September 9th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
I wonder how many new Jaguars jerseys have been sold last night and today? I’m sure former supposed Buc fans changed names and teams.
September 9th, 2026 at 2:28 pm
DBS, no one will miss Melly And his inability to help himself with the all caps key. And let’s just hope he keeps his word.
September 9th, 2026 at 4:11 pm
Notice the 2 QBs in the Super Bowl were not on that list.
September 9th, 2026 at 4:46 pm
Still waiting for all the details, but it seems like the Bucs went the safe route, and did not load up the deal with void years and signing bonuses, and instead are doing cash deals each year with guarantees. If that turns out to be true, basically it means if Baker bombs, they could still escape cap hell by trading him to another franchise.
Perhaps that doesn’t turn out to be the case, will have to wait and see, but if true it’s the best scenario for the Bucs since it gives them a way out if things go poorly. You can almost certainly get a team like Cleveland to take on a bad deal if things go poorly – you could even throw in picks to try to make it happy like Houston did when they dumped Brock Osweiler and his huge salary on the Browns, giving them a 2nd rounder to take his contract.
September 9th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
You can count on each of the owners tracking, forecasting and obtaining updates from the commisioners office concerning the salary cap. The Glazers are proven experts in market predictions and comparingly, the Non Football League is easy peazy. The Glazers invested well on this one.
September 9th, 2026 at 5:37 pm
Id rather have mayfield then Lawerance Love and Prescott…
September 9th, 2026 at 5:40 pm
Watson! What the hell was Cleveland thinking?? Uhh that’s Cleveland thinking!