Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield: Football 'A Lot More Fun' After Finding Home in Tampa Bay

Baker Mayfield is happy to have settled down with the Bucs.

Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers agreed to a three-year contract this offseason. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's a good feeling to find a place, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield knows that well heading into 2024.

Mayfield's tenure with the team that drafted him, the Cleveland Browns, started off well — but injuries and poor play derailed the end of his tenure, and he started the dreadful bounce around the league that so many players can get roped into. He played a short stint for the Carolina Panthers in 2022 and left before the season was even over, and he finished the year playing for the Los Angeles Rams.

In 2023, though, he came to the Buccaneers, and after winning a quarterback competition, he proved he belonged. He threw for 28 touchdowns to just 10 picks and over 4,000 yards, and the team rewarded him with a three-year deal worth up to $115 million.

That contract is the biggest he's had in his career, and he told the Mike Calta Show on Saturday that it feels great finding a home after his brief stint jumping around between teams.

"You’re having more fun when you’re not getting shipped off to different places like a piece of dirty laundry, I’ll tell you that,” Mayfield said. “So when I got embraced in Tampa, it made a world of difference. I’ve always played ball to enjoy it. I mean, it is a game. Yes, it is my job, but I love it so much.”

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Mayfield was certainly loving the game last year when he helped lead the Bucs out of a 4-7 hole to finish 9-8, win the NFC South and then beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the NFC playoffs. There's still some work to do, but if Mayfield can keep up last year's play for three years, he'll certainly be worth his contract.

He'll have even more to work with in Year 2 with the Bucs, as he'll have a new first-round center in Graham Barton and some new weapons from the draft like WR Jalen McMillan and running back Bucky Irving. Mayfield and the rest of the Bucs will look to continue dominance and win the NFC South for the fourth year in a row.

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