Ahead of the 2023 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were stuck in quarterback limbo.
They were tasked with replacing a legend while coming off a season that was disappointing but not disappointing enough to garner a draft spot that would bestow upon them a franchise signal-caller.
Thus, they took a flier on a former No. 1 overall pick in Baker Mayfield.
A year later, Mayfield and the Bucs are headed down a vastly different road and he’s most certainly steering the squad.
“Baker has the keys to the bus,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday, via team transcript. “He’s driving it. He’s comfortable, we’re comfortable with him. We’re both in a great place right now.”
Mayfield had gone from the presumptive franchise quarterback of the Cleveland Browns to an NFL nomad. He was bounced from the Browns to the Carolina Panthers via trade in the summer of 2022 before ending his season with the Los Angeles Rams, having been claimed off waivers after his time in Charlotte didn’t work out.
He signed a one-year deal with the Bucs after Tom Brady put a pin in the most successful career in NFL lore. Not many expected much from Tampa or Mayfield, but they won the NFC South and picked up a playoff victory.
Mayfield was rewarded with a three-year, $100 million extension after his first Pro Bowl season and now he’s the Bucs’ franchise QB of the present and, at least, the near future. It’s a massive change from this time last year, when Mayfield was embroiled in a competition for the starting job with Kyle Trask.
Mayfield posted career highs of 4,044 passing yards, 28 touchdown passes and a 64.3 completion percentage. The caveat, however, is Mayfield did that with Dave Canales as his offensive coordinator. Canales is now the head coach of the Panthers, while Mayfield is reunited with Liam Coen, who he briefly worked with during his cup of coffee in L.A.
Thus, Bowles underscored that with the keys to the offense comes ample responsibility for Mayfield.
“He has to run the offense — we talked about this, as far as getting the ball out where he needs to get the ball out and understanding the offense and making the correct checks,” Bowles said. “I think he’s taken it upon his shoulders. He came back in great shape and we expect him to do that. There’s a lot more stability there than there was last year.”
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