Baker Mayfield’s return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024 is reportedly far from a guarantee.
Speaking on Sunday’s edition of SportsCenter (h/t Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report), ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Mayfield’s return to the reigning NFC South champions is “not a slam dunk”.
On top of that, Fowler mentioned one of the Bucs’ NFC South rivals as a potential suitor for the 28-year-old should Mayfield hit the open market:
“The feeling is that they want to get something done. They’re going to be talking. They’re hoping to re-sign Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield but it’s not a slam dunk.
“This is a guy who’s going to have a pretty strong market here. You look at several teams that are going to want to get in on Mayfield, talk to him about potentially playing. You look at Atlanta as a team that definitely needs a quarterback. They passed on him last year, maybe they’ll try to right that wrong.”
Mayfield signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers last year and responded with the best season of his career. The first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns, leading Tampa to a third straight NFC South division title.
Given the lack of depth in this year’s free agent quarterback class outside of Kirk Cousins (if he leaves Minnesota), Ryan Tannehill and Russell Wilson (assuming the Denver Broncos do cut him), Mayfield stands to land a shiny multi-year in free agency.
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The main question, of course, is which team will ultimately pay him.
