Why the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield Are a ‘Perfect’ Match

Plus, the 49ers are all in on Brock Purdy, Anthony Richardson shines during his pro day, tension building in New England, a potential Commanders sale and much more in this week’s takeaways.

We have plenty to take away from last week’s NFL owners’ meetings …

Fun nugget that I picked up this week—Baker Mayfield was as much in on recruiting the Buccaneers as Tampa Bay was in on recruiting him last month. Early on in the process, I’m told, he showed a strong affinity for the Bucs, and that actually matches right up with what he told me shortly after he signed on March 15.

His process, he explained, started with having some time to take a deep breath after being moved from Cleveland to Carolina to Los Angeles in a six-month span.

“I finally had some [time] to think, I think that’s the key word,” Mayfield said. “And, yeah, just looking at it from a big-picture standpoint, I want to play this game for a long time. So where’s the next spot that’s going to be the most stable position, where I can come in and compete, and do the best I can to showcase what I’m capable of? This is a great opportunity to do so. Normally when a spot like this opens up, it’s because bad things have happened.

“But this one, it’s just because Tom [Brady] retired. So it’s a perfect opportunity for me.”

Mayfield wanted to play for the Buccaneers after Tom Brady retired :: Kirby Lee/USA Today network

He also accepted a one-year deal with a base value of $4 million (with another $4.5 million in incentives available) to facilitate his arrival with a team that committed to using this year to pay off the salary-cap debts of the Brady era, which will be evident in some $80 million of dead money expected on Tampa’s 2023 cap.

Now, Mayfield knows he’ll have to beat out Kyle Trask, whom the Bucs spent a second-round pick on two years ago, to get the opportunity that was so enticing to him. But if he does that? He’ll be playing behind Tristan Wirfs, and throwing to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in a winnable division. So if the goal here is to launch the second phase of his career, and set up, say, a 15-year pro stint, I think he was smart to look for the right place, not necessarily the most lucrative one, to work on that.

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One takeaway from the meetings for me—the Niners really believe in Brock Purdy.

I’m not going to sit here and say that they think they have a Brady-type story with last year’s seventh-round pick, but I do believe the 49ers’ brass thinks Purdy’s capable of giving them the highest level of quarterback play they’ve had since Kyle Shanahan arrived in 2017.

That doesn’t mean he’s there yet, of course. But that they’re hanging his name first on the depth chart, and are willing to do it, even with his medical situation, is very much indicative of where they stand. And with what’s ahead, it makes sense for them to just allow for the situation with the other two quarterbacks in house, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold, to play out.

The Niners are working with a six-to-eight-month return-to-play timetable on Purdy, with the idea being that the timeline should be more concrete two to three months post-op (Purdy’s surgery was March 10). That means by the summer break, San Francisco should know if it’s getting Purdy back for opening day, at some point midseason or somewhere in between.

What the Niners know for certain now is that the on-field reps through spring will go to Lance and Darnold. They’re hoping Lance will turn a corner, but, with the roster they have, and the presence of Purdy, they can no longer sacrifice in-season reps to facilitate his development—as they’d planned last year. Meanwhile, there’s some hope that Darnold, seen as a strong system fit, could turn a corner. As a rookie, Darnold played for Mike Shanahan protégé Jeremy Bates and had his best year in a scheme built to make the QB play fast.

Either way, one of those guys will really have to come on to move the Niners off Purdy, which should be taken as good news by the fan base.

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Florida’s Anthony Richardson put on a show Thursday. While his tape is still kind of all over the place, and his interviews have revealed he’s sharp, but has a ways to go, he’s still chasing Bryce Young and CJ Stroud. He did, however, help himself throwing in shorts and a T-shirt to cap his predraft process.

“Seeing Richardson was cool, man,” says one coach who was in Gainesville and has been at the QB pro days. “Everything is so effortless down the field. The interesting thing with him is there are questions on overall accuracy, but all the throws down the field were really impressive and accurate. The intermediate stuff, the 15-, 20-yard throws, are so, so easy for him and accurate for a bigger, muscled-up athlete in those ranges.

“Development-wise, underneath, he needs to get a little better command of that. Accuracy on the running back throws, that stuff, that’s where he’s gotta get better. But his physical skill set, it’s impressive. He can roll left, roll right, and flick the ball so far, without exerting himself at all, staying nice and compact, it’s impressive.”

Another thing this coach noticed—a lot of Richardson’s throws were made with his hands off the laces, which is a little thing, but another sign of his strength and ability to control the ball. And in one area where Richardson has been panned, his ability to change speeds on the ball depending on the routes and receivers, the 21-year-old was a little hot and cold but showed improvement, which in turn showed his self-awareness in diagnosing the issue.

All in all, a really good day for perhaps the draft’s most interesting prospect.

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Belichick and Kraft have been together for 23 years, winning six Super Bowls :: Scott Galvin/USA TODAY Sports

The tension between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick was clear in Arizona, both in how Kraft walked right up to the line delivering ultimatums, without delivering them explicitly, and Belichick, for the second time this offseason, going back to the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride to clarify a comment.

These events have never been Belichick’s thing, and his tacit throwing of his résumé on the table, when pointing to his 23 seasons to answer why Patriots fans should be optimistic, was about as human and real a moment as you’ll get out of the six-time Super Bowl–winning coach in such a situation.

That said, Belichick did nothing to create a unified front behind Mac Jones (who rankled the coach at times last year with his bedside manner), even hinting that Bailey Zappe would have a chance to win the job from Jones. He was also vague when addressing Kraft’s spending on the roster, which led to the first clarification of the offseason. Kraft, meanwhile, dropped the Meek Mill–Lamar Jackson story on Belichick’s doorstep, saying any pursuit of Jackson would be up to Belichick and voicing, again, his displeasure with the team’s record.

Things, as I understand it, weren’t much better away from the media in Arizona, either.

Where this goes next will be interesting. The Kraft-Belichick relationship has never been the warmest, fuzziest association in the league, and it hasn’t had to be for the team to reach historic heights. But take the winning away … and then what? The Patriots have missed the playoffs in two of the past three years, finishing under .500 both times. And if it happens again, it’d make getting to Don Shula’s wins record in 2024 an uphill climb for Belichick.

At that point, and with some big decisions at quarterback to be made next spring, things could get awfully awkward, especially with the all-time wins mark so close, yet potentially still two seasons away.

Obviously, winning would solve all this. Absent that, things will get interesting.

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The Commanders’ sale, I think, could happen soon, with an agreement in principle on a buyer and price within shouting distance. My guess would be that it’ll be DMV native Josh Harris, which would help the NFL because Harris already went through the full vetting process as part of the Broncos bidding last year and is highly thought of in ownership circles. I also believe the NFL, and Dan Snyder, shouldn’t mess around—if Harris is the guy.

Harris didn’t have an appetite for drama during the Denver process. Word was he was willing to put up $5 billion for the Broncos, but only if that offer wasn’t shopped and would definitively get him the team. Likewise, this time around, I think his offer is his offer.

That said, there’s a good level of confidence that we’ll get a vote in May. Harris, or whoever the buyer winds up being, would have to be approved by the finance committee first. After that, an exclusive negotiating window would open to finalize the structure of a deal, and the owners would vote once everything is buttoned up. There are still some nerves among NFL power brokers that Snyder will back out at the last moment. But most think it’s happening.

As for the price? Snyder’s number at the beginning of this was $7 billion. One team president told me this week that the number had come down to $6.5 billion. And as for where it actually lands, it sounds like the final figure will be closer to $6 billion, which is a healthy distance north of the $4.65 billion the Bowlen Family Trust got for the Broncos (which is one reason for the aforementioned nervousness, even after Snyder cleared out of the offices).

Either way, it at least looks like the finish line is in sight.

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Odell Beckham Jr.’s appearance at the meetings was smart. I’d heard, while I was there, that his number dropped from $20 million per year to $15 million, and he faces an uphill climb to even get that. But putting himself front and center with NFL folks was a savvy move, showing how badly he wants to get back with a team—he met formally with the Ravens in Arizona, and at least said his hellos to the Rams, Jets, Browns and Giants, too.

With the price coming down, it’s fair to say he probably is a better option than DeAndre Hopkins, who’s due $19.45 million in cash this year and will cost another team picks, at least for now. Depending on how teams value their draft picks, the young Denver receivers could give those needy at the position a better option, too.

To that end, some think the lack of action on Hopkins is because potential suitors believe the Cardinals will wind up cutting their 30-year-old star receiver because his age and his contract make him hard to move).

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Rapp gives the Bills a chance at getting a potential long-term safety in the pipeline :: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

The Bills’ landing former Ram Taylor Rapp was a nice, under-the-radar signing this week. And what he said about going to Buffalo is another sign of what the Bills have become, even after another disappointing finish—a destination for veterans to go ring chasing.

“Everyone in the free-agency process is trying to find the right fit and right opportunity,” Rapp told the team’s website. “This is a very special team, very special defense, very special back end, back seven, especially the guys that I will be joining in the room in Micah [Hyde] and Jordan [Poyer]. They are obviously two great players, two former All-Pros and have had great careers.

“So, just a great opportunity to come in there and contribute in any way I can, just pick them apart and learn and soak up as much about the game as I can from those guys.”

The 25-year-old Rapp has good versatility as a safety and nickel linebacker to carve out a role behind Hyde and Poyer. And even on a one-year deal, he gives Buffalo a chance at getting a potential long-term safety in the pipeline, with the 32-year-old Hyde and 31-year-old Poyer now going into their seventh seasons as Bills.

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I want the Jets on Hard Knocks. As of right now, by the rules, there are four teams the league can compel to be the team to appear on the long-running HBO series this summer. The Commanders, with the ownership shift, could make them an interesting pick. The Bears, with Justin Fields fighting to assert himself and a youthful team, and the Saints, with a team trying to get back to its Sean Payton–Drew Brees level, wouldn’t be bad.

But among the four, I mean, it’s pretty easy to see which team would be the best for the show. And that’s the team that gave us one of the series’ best seasons 13 years ago.