Baker Mayfield Has The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, And His Price Tag Rising

 By Jeff Barnes

 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7) can clinch the NFC South Division with a win over their bitter rivals, the New Orleans (7-8) Saints this Sunday.  That is a far cry from the midseason point where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were mired in a 4-game losing streak that left them a 3-5.  The key to their rise starts with Baker Mayfield.  Now, with both Mayfield and the Bucs looking to extend this relationship, navigating the salary cap could lead to rough waters.

When the reports came out that there was mutual interest in Baker Mayfield returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024 and beyond, many fans were ecstatic.  This would give the Bucs the most stability at quarterback in over a decade (not counting Tom Brady as he was a short-term option).  When Tampa Bay signed Baker last offseason, he agreed to a 1-yer deal.  This is often a prove-it deal that can lead to something bigger if the player performs.  Now here we are in December, and Baker is possibly going to eclipse his prior career highs.  That and the fact that he can make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a division champion for the third straight season has led to this.

NFL Quarterbacks account for 13%-15% of a team’s salary cap.  While the average salary of all 32 starting quarterbacks in 2022 was over $7 million, the top 10 quarterbacks had an average salary of $49.4 million.  The projected franchise tag for 2024 for quarterbacks according to overthecap.com will be $36 million.  That is quite the haul for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they are projected to have $47 million in cap space to start the league year.  Even if they re-sign Baker Mayfield, the cap hit will be a lot larger than the $4 million cap hit in 2023.  If Baker gets his way, his deal will be worth more than the $40 million-a-year deal that Daniel Jones received from the Giants.  In fact, with a strong playoff push, he could command over $45 million a year.

Re-signing Baker Mayfield is a big obstacle, but it is not the main problem the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face this offseason.  Other players in line for big paydays are WR Mike Evans, LB Devin White, Antoine Winfield, and a potential third contract for Lavonte David.  Evans alone is another challenge as his price tag could exceed $25 million a year.  Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. can cost you around $17 million a year as well.  Lavonte David may not cost a ton since he will be 34 in 2024, but in order to retain Devin White’s services, $20 million a year might be the invoice the Bucs receive.  Signing big contracts always leads to turnover somewhere on the roster.  Sign a player to a big deal, you are going to lose at least two.  There is a reality that the Buccaneers re-sign both Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans but lose Antoine Winfield Jr. and Devin White.   There is another that sees the Bucs re-sign Mayfield and Winfield Jr. but lose White and Evans.

There are ways for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to create cap space to retain more of these players.  Contracts of certain players with large salary cap hits can be restructured to minimize their cap hit and create more space under the cap.  Defensive tackle Vita Vea has a cap hit of $21 million in 2024 with a salary of $15.5 million.  That salary can be restructured reducing his cap hit to possibly as low as $13 million creating $8 million in cap space.  Restructuring a contract takes that year’s salary and converts it into a bonus.  By converting that salary into a bonus, the team can now spread that amount of over the remaining years of the contract.  Extending Chris Godwin is another option as he enters the final year of his deal in 2024 and has a cap hit of $27.5 million.

Baker Mayfield bet on himself when he signed with Tampa Bay believing that he would not only play well but play to the level of the team’s franchise quarterback.  The salary cap was designed to break up teams as players look to get value for their services.  This offseason, we will find out if finding the next Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise quarterback will lead to long-term success with this roster, or if it will be the wedge that breaks up the core of the team.