The Buccaneers are keeping the band together.
Tampa Bay and quarterback Baker Mayfield have agreed to terms on a three-year, $100 million contract worth up to $115 million in incentives and $50 million guaranteed, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday, per sources.
NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero added that $30 million of Mayfield’s deal is fully guaranteed in Year 1, with another $10 million guaranteed in 2025 and the last $10 million for injury vesting next year.
The team has since announced the deal.
Mayfield, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick turned nomad, had a career year in 2023. He threw for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while helping spark Tampa Bay to a third straight NFC South title and an appearance in the NFC Divisional Round.
Those efforts led to the quarterback’s first-ever Pro Bowl, and he also finished third in Comeback Player of the Year voting.
Mayfield had shown flashes of becoming a long-term solution at QB with the Browns, who he played with from 2018-2021. He was the second-place finisher in Offensive Rookie of the Year, threw for 3,000 yards in each year with Cleveland and during the 2020 season helped deliver the organization its first postseason victory since 1994.
But his inconsistencies still showed up, leading the Browns to move on from him ahead of the 2022 season, which he eventually split between the Panthers and Rams.
When Mayfield signed with the Bucs in 2023, Tampa Bay was to be his fourth team in the span of one offseason to another.
Expectations were low, and he promptly shattered them.
Sitting at 4-7 in late November, Mayfield and the Bucs won five of their last six regular-season game to steal the division, then throttled the defending NFC-champion Philadelphia Eagles, 32-9, in the wild-card round before taking the upstart Detroit Lions to the brink the ensuing week.
Mayfield, who turns 29 in April, showed instant chemistry with both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, as Godwin led the team with 83 receptions and Evans took that baton with 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Neither Mayfield nor Evans were guaranteed to run it back with Tampa Bay, but the Buccaneers have now locked both down within the last week, and also ensured their best defensive back, safety Antoine Winfield Jr., would stick around on at least a franchise tag.
The Buccaneers are gearing up for a run at a fourth consecutive division title, with the latest move to do so — agreeing to terms with their quarterback on the eve of free agency — perhaps being the most important.
