Baker Mayfield Within Reach Of Bucs Record
September 9th, 2026
He’s no Trent Dilfer!
Joe didn’t know Baker Mayfield is close to reaching heights of Bucs franchise history known only by Trent Dilfer.
As part of a breakdown of Mayfield’s new contract last night by Evan Closky of WTSP-TV Channel 10, Mayfield could be a Bucs franchise record-holder come January.
Closky noted Trent Dilfer is the all-time Bucs leader in regular-season wins with 38. Mayfield has 27 wins with the Bucs.
So if the Bucs have a really good year, Mayfield could tie or break that record. In 2024, the Bucs won 10 games.
How wild is it that not even Tom Brady holds the Bucs’ record for most wins by a quarterback, but one of the biggest stiffs who ever played quarterback for the Bucs, Dilfer.
Mayfield is light years a better quarterback than Dilfer ever was.
September 9th, 2026 at 5:12 am
Dilfer was a stiff.
Who, like Doug Williams and Steve Young, won Super Bowl Rings after leaving.
The Glazers have improved the franchise one thousand percent.
But prior to their ownership- you had no idea if we had a good QB or not.
When the line, WRs, RBs, and TEs all suck- How can you judge a QB?
The Bucs said Steve Young couldn’t play QB. They were actually planning to move him to Fullback.
In San Fran- He loaded up his hand with Super Bowl rings.
Bucs destroyed Dilfer and Testaverde. Both rebounded when they went to a real team.
September 9th, 2026 at 5:37 am
Wow! Such hate for Dilfer? Really, Joe?
I cussed the paint off of my TV more than once watching Dilfer. But, in addition to being the QB with the most wins with the Bucs, he also had a Pro Bowl year with the Bucs. A lot of Bucs QBs managed to accomplish much less.
As a backup, Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Ravens, and he did quite well in winning games as a backup for Seattle and San Francisco.
When Joe starts talking about “… the biggest stiffs who ever played quarterback for the Bucs …”, doesn’t that go out the window when Joe also writes that “… Trent Dilfer is the all-time Bucs leader in regular-season wins with 38 …”?
The thing about Dilfer was that he would sometimes follow several amazingly good plays with one the left you needing new screen for your TV. I get Joe’s frustration. But, there was usually more good than bad with Dilfer, or he would not have been selected for the Pro Bowl.
The good made the bad hurt more. But, the guys on my list of “… the biggest stiffs who ever played quarterback for the Bucs …” never had the good that Dilfer did.
September 9th, 2026 at 6:03 am
Eleven more wins and Trent Dilfer officially becomes a trivia question instead of a trauma response.
Maybe Hollywood will come out with a movie series called “Breaking Bad” or something.
Oh, wait…
September 9th, 2026 at 6:59 am
Dilfer was the Culverhouse era’s last “big” draft selection in 1994, the year Hugh died. Had a friend from Sarasota who happened to be in Tampa for a legal matter when the sale went down in the law office where he was in a meeting.
I think Gay Culverhouse, Hugh’s daughter, was there to sign the papers. They briefly interrupted my friend’s meeting to ask him to witness the sale, so his name is on the document. Pretty cool …
On that day, the Glazers paid 192 million for the Bucs.
Note to all of you who accuse the Glazers of parsimony: The press lambasted them for overpaying by 50 million!
The value of the Bucs today: 9.1 BILLION.
September 9th, 2026 at 7:24 am
Its incredulous that Bakers new contract is what the Glazers almost paid for the whole team!! Man times have changed
September 9th, 2026 at 7:25 am
Dilfer was absolutely horrible. I still have nightmares.
September 9th, 2026 at 7:40 am
Dilfer was obedient. Father Dungy told him not to turn it over and he obeyed. He did great in the super bowl for the Ravens, never seen a coach control a qb the way Dungy did Dilfer, most games he was like 6 of 10 for 80 yards lol 1 td 0 interceptions 0 fumbles with a killer defense- Bucs Win!!!
September 9th, 2026 at 7:47 am
Any insinuation that Dilfer was a “good” QB because he won a SB is disingenuous at best. The Ravens would’ve won the SB with a cereal box behind center that year!
He was not good. I vividly recall holding my breath EVERY time he threw an ‘out’ route!
He did famously truck a defender once! that was fun!
September 9th, 2026 at 8:03 am
“Bucs destroyed Dilfer and Testaverde. Both rebounded when they went to a real team.”
Dilfer was mediocre to okay and won a super bowl simply because he went to a team with a league best defense. He was their version of Brad johnson. Didn’t mess anything up on offense but wasn’t stellar. Look at his stats the year he made the pro bowl. Half of the QBs today have better stats every season.
Record: 10–6
Completions / Attempts: 217 / 386
Completion Percentage: 56.2%
Passing Yards: 2,555
Touchdowns: 21
Interceptions: 11
Passer Rating: 82.8
Mediocre to okay in today’s NFL.
For Testaverde, he never went on to be any kind of decent franchise QB but instead turned into a journeyman. There is no excuse for the amount of interceptions he threw on a regular basis. He was basically a ’90s version of Jameis Winston, except he was much, much worse.
Vinny = 275 passing touchdowns, and 267 interceptions… career. Awful ratio.
W/Bucs = 77 touchdowns to 112 interceptions. Only so many of those interceptions can be blamed on receiver error.
September 9th, 2026 at 8:16 am
Bucsfsnman—
I think you’d need to visit another universe to find a living creature who might define Dilfer as “good.” Nobody is saying that.
If anything, his record shows the Bucs historical failures to draft and develop any quarterback. EVER!
Steve Young, a Bucs draftee, was the best of the drafted bunch. But inept Bucs coaching almost killed his career. Then luck descended upon him and he was shipped to San Fran. According to some, the Steve Young Project was the highlight of Bill Walsh’s storied career.
September 9th, 2026 at 8:26 am
He should shatter the franchise passing TF record. Jameis is at 127
September 9th, 2026 at 8:29 am
Dilfer has something Baker never will: A SB ring.
Unless he’s a backup on another team at the end of his career that wins it all.
As a starter at QB, he’s just Mr. Mid. Basically .500 his entire career.
He’s proof that blind optimism and media engineered hype can create a narrative capable of providing an undeserving QB with $165 million.
He’s now a very expensive loser.
September 9th, 2026 at 8:31 am
And he’ll have to wait until next season for the wins record.
The 11 wins needed to tie the record are outside of his capabilities.
September 9th, 2026 at 9:07 am
Ravens, Patriots, 49ers, Eagles among others are very frequently top-of-mind when it comes to SB contenders – the Bucs really never have been except for parts of the Dungy-Gruden era and the Brady era – only 3 coaches (Dungy, Gruden, and Brady-hand-puppet Arians) have had 11+ wins in a season –
to be fair both Raheem and Todd were each able to notch a single 10-win season (with no playoff win) – basically the Bucs have for 50 years (my first game attended 1988) have been a middling to pretty good team that needed a “savior” (Gruden 2002 Brady 2000) to provide the extra oomph to be a champion – I am sorry but Mayfield is not that guy – a Buckeye State friend who obsessively follows the Browns warned me about “Good Baker and Bad Baker” – sadly the Bucs got the one season of “Bad Brady” – we’ll know after the first 4 games of this season which version of Baker we have
September 9th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Brady 2020
September 9th, 2026 at 9:38 am
KABucs
Everything you said would be true, IF FOOTBALL WAS A ONE MAN GAME.
We aren’t talking about Tennis. We are talking about A TEAM of 11 guys.
It’s ok. I can tell you didn’t watch those teams. I did. They were horrible beyond belief.
The Bucs had the worst losing record of any profession sports team.
Worse than any Football, basketball, baseball, rugby, soccer, swim, etc.
Let that sink in.
They had that title, until the Glazers took over. They still might- but thankfully I doubt it.
Those QBs stood behind horrible lines. Handed off to terrible RBs. Threw to miserable WRs.
Joe Montana couldn’t have won with those teams.
And I watched everyone of them. You’d watch the occasion real talented player struggle to overcome the incompetence of their teammates.
The Erving Randles. James Wilders. Scott Brantley’s. Hugh Green.
An Owner that was heat of the NFL Finance committee. Didn’t give a dam about winning. Only the bottom line.
Occasionally, I say a prayer for those guys who fought and bled on those horrible teams. Yeah, Testeverde. And Trent Dilfer too.
Dilfer wasn’t as talented as Steve Young or Doug Williams. But no QB in Tampa fought harder to win than Trent Dilfer.thats why he’s got a SuperBowl ring.
Instead of insulting him, say a prayer for Dilfer, too. He did everything that he could do.
I know. I watched every game he played in Tampa.
September 9th, 2026 at 10:00 am
@Captain Tim Has it.
@JA with the best story of the Entire off season
@ get rid of licht please : drops a turd… with his bad take and bad taste, with his remarks concerning Arians. Dude! If it weren’t for Arians Legendary coaching prowess, Brady wouldn’t have come to our backwater town AT ALL! Brady Made THAT CLEAR….
September 9th, 2026 at 11:01 am
What’s his playoff record at Tampa Bay? That’s the only record, I’m interested in…….
September 9th, 2026 at 11:10 am
Dilfer was a wounded dog running, my thoughts the first and thankfully the last time I saw him in a Bucs uniform after I started watching NFL again
September 9th, 2026 at 11:33 am
All these years later and I *still* can’t fathom how both of the QB’s from the Dungy era (Dilfer and Shaun King) still have people defending them.
Probably both really good guys to meet and talk football over some wings with, but neither was very good on the field.
After Dilfer won the Super Bowl with the Ravens, the Big Dog summed up Dilfer’s time in Tampa by saying (I’m paraphrasing most of this) that Dilfer was a “DLG quarterback” (that’s a direct quote), meaning that his entire job in Tampa was Don’t Lose the Game, and that he never got that into his head until he lost his job here and went to Baltimore. That’s why he won the SB in Baltimore and not in Tampa.
Duemig was a smart man. I tend to think he was right on this one.
September 9th, 2026 at 12:16 pm
JA- We Buc fans have a tendency to embellish our SB quarterback stories from those woeful years. I literally just had this convo with a coworker who was listing Buc QBs who had gone from the Bucs to win SBs (Baker’s contract spurred it on!).
I think his mention gives fans who lived it knee-jerk, vomit-inducing reactions!
Capt. Tim- Before you admonish my statements above, just know that when Trent was here and behind center he was MY quarterback and had my full support.
He still couldn’t throw an out route to save his life though!!!
September 9th, 2026 at 6:16 pm
@Gipper
No you got it sort of wrong. You left out the ” By Himself part”.. Impressive coaching strategy by bozo the bowles. The players have to coach it better to themselves. I mean bowles is Always claiming he can’t do anything more to help them. (Player needing help figuring out what in the H bowles is talking about he means) so there’s where they have to coach themselves….
Guy is just a regular super genius Bozo is. He’s a Lousy coach but he’s one H3lllll of a Clown!
September 9th, 2026 at 9:50 pm
BA’s Red Pen Says
“Dilfer was absolutely horrible. I still have nightmares.”
We’ve had much worse.
Joe, were you around when Dilfer played for the Bucs? I thought you came after that?
September 9th, 2026 at 9:54 pm
KABucs Says:
“For Testaverde, he never went on to be any kind of decent franchise QB but instead turned into a journeyman.”
Well, that’s not true. He did pretty d@rn good with the Jets. He was the last great QB the Jet’s had.