TAMPA, Fla. -- When it comes to playing with a chip on his shoulder and betting on himself, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield isn't kidding when he says, "That's something I'm pretty familiar with."
Throughout his career, Mayfield has shown both a willingness to fight and prove doubters wrong, but also that his tolerance for what he perceives as disrespect does have its limits. Are the Bucs testing them by having him play out the final year of his deal? Or will they get the most out of a player who "wants his lick back" in 2026?
He didn't get the contract extension he wanted by his self-imposed training camp deadline this summer and sources say there haven't been any talks since the Bucs' last offer on July 30.
Mayfield said once his deadline expired that he didn't want to have further discussions until the offseason, and he told his agent, Tom Mills, not to bother him unless he's "actually recognized" for his value.
The Bucs have been vocal about not wanting Mayfield to leave, with general manager Jason Licht saying last week during a preseason game broadcast, "I'm very optimistic about it."
"He wants to play," Licht said. "He wants to prove to us that he is the franchise quarterback that we said that he was.
"So, we'll just have to see how it plays out. I'll never close the door on anything in the short term, but right now, he's focused on football."
And then perhaps revealing the volatile nature of these situations, Licht gave a more measured response four days later.
"Well, we certainly respect him wanting to focus on the season," Licht said. "We're focused on the season. I've been here long enough [over 12 years] to know that in this league, I don't want to make predictions on what could happen, what will happen, what won't happen."
Despite the distractions that may come with all of this, Mayfield's teammates have had his back.
"I expect Baker to be Baker, and I expect him to lead us like he always does and I expect him to bring the best out of us," left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. "I think he's gonna play with his hair on fire."
STRAIGHT FROM LUBBOCK, Texas -- following Texas Tech's 41-16 season finale loss to Texas in 2013 -- Mayfield drove his Chevy Tahoe to Austin, right up to the back door of his Lake Travis High School football coach Hank Carter's home for a surprise visit.
Moments before, Carter had been on the phone with a coaching pal at Texas Tech -- where Mayfield had become the first-ever true freshman walk-on quarterback to start a season opener for a BCS school -- and told him, "Hey man, y'all are screwing this up. Why hasn't he been put on scholarship yet?"
Speaking to ESPN, Carter recounted the moment when Mayfield took a seat in his office at his home that day. Not only had Mayfield started seven games for the Red Raiders and accounted for 15 touchdowns and not been put on scholarship, but he was informed that they did not have one available for him that spring and couldn't give him one until something opened up.
And he was informed that coach Kliff Kingsbury was opening up the quarterback job for competition, which didn't sit well.
Carter asked, "Well, what do you think you're going to do?"
Carter said Mayfield responded, "'What am I going to do?' He goes, "I've got all my s--- packed in my car right now. I'm out. I already left."
Carter's response? "Oh my God."
Mayfield delivered the news to Kingsbury on Dec. 10. The following day, when it was announced that he'd won the Big 12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year award, he made his departure public.
Mayfield and Carter picked up the conversation a few days later. Carter offered to help him find another school. But Mayfield had already made up his mind.
"I think I'm going to go to [Oklahoma]," Mayfield said.
He publicly declared his intentions to enroll there on Dec. 19, and on Jan. 3, the Sooners defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, 45-31, with freshman Trevor Knight at quarterback.
"I go, 'Bake, this quarterback just hung 40 points on Nick Saban,"' Carter said. "I was like, 'Are you sure?'"
Mayfield told him, "Coach, I know that guy. He's a great guy," Carter said. "But then he said, 'I'll beat him out. I'll beat him out. I've wanted to go there my whole life. That's always been the school we rooted for.'
"He was just like, 'Screw it, I'm going,'" Carter said. "And I did not think that was the best decision, but I was wrong. He obviously knew exactly what he was doing. ... And yeah, the rest is history."
A Heisman Trophy, first-overall selection in the 2018 draft and three playoff appearances later, Mayfield finds himself in a situation to prove himself once again with the Bucs, who did not meet his July 28 deadline for a new contract. Instead, he'll play out the remainder of his contract, which ends after the season, and let the chips fall where they may in the offseason.
According to Mayfield, "Sometimes you have to put yourself backed into a corner and fight your way out."
And that's where he stands heading into the season with the Bucs, hoping to lead Tampa back into the playoffs after falling short last year.
"His mentality is that underdog mentality he's had since I'm sure he was 8 years old starting to play football," Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. "That'll never leave that guy, and it's a good thing.
"He believes in himself. Whether other people believe in him too, he really doesn't care."
MAYFIELD ASSEMBLED THE team before the Bucs' first camp practice and briefed them on his contract situation, emphasizing that it would not be a distraction and his focus was strictly on them and football. His teammates said the message was heartfelt and well-received.
"I'd say just how committed he is," right guard Cody Mauch said. "I mean, he set a deadline. He said his deadline's the beginning of training camp and he's sticking to it. And now he's like, 'I promise I'm all about ball.'
"It sucks to see him go through this and whatnot, but it's not going to change his mentality, the way he plays. I mean, he's going to go ball out and it's going to get made right."
Wide receiver Tez Johnson said Mayfield has been "true to his word" and "we trust him and we love him."
"When he said it's all ball for us, it was strictly all ball," Johnson said. "He's so eager to just go out there and just prove to the world that he belongs, and he deserves to be in that talk with the quarterbacks."
Nose tackle Vita Vea who had his own contract dispute that was ultimately resolved with a new deal on Aug. 19, empathized with Mayfield's frustration. While Vea was holding in -- attending practices but not participating -- Mayfield used his media availability to not only express frustrations about his own deal but to advocate for Vea's re-signing.
"Baker is the heart and soul of this team," Vea said. "You see the energy he brings on game day. We feed off of that too, not only the offense.
"I hope things get figured out with him. I know we'd all love to have him. Everybody loves Baker. That's somebody that you wish to have on your side on game day."
Mayfield spent the summer working to master Robinson's offense -- his fourth in four seasons in Tampa, although it has strong similarities to the one he operated under Liam Coen in 2024. He's also worked on some of the issues he felt he fell short in last year, like his rhythm and needing to tighten up his footwork.
"If you're out of rhythm in this system -- whether it's timing of the routes and the concepts -- bad things are going to happen," Mayfield said. "It starts with my feet and going through that and trusting the timing of that and going through the progressions, checking the ball down."
Quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer, who spent last season tutoring Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza en route to a national championship at Indiana, has been a stickler for footwork, to the point that Mayfield has joked that he wants to "put his little ass in a headlock and beat him up."
Mayfield then conceded, "But no, I like to be coached hard."
Licht, who has been on the opposite side of the table during those difficult contract talks, is seeing him demand even more of himself and believes he could possibly have the best year of his career.
"Shoot, he gets in here at probably 4 a.m," Licht said. "I can just see it. Not that he wasn't before, but I just see a bit extra motivation on his part."
LAST SEASON WAS an injury marred season -- not just for Mayfield, but for almost his entire cast of receivers, starting offensive line and running back Bucky Irving.
As a result, Mayfield wasn't as physically effective after an MVP-caliber start, but he scoffed at the notion that the team's hesitancy at a deal longer than two years stems from concern about his body holding up.
"I started every game last year ... the last three years," Mayfield said. "I don't know if that should ever be a question."
Mayfield's combined 51 starts over the last three years ties him with Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills for the most quarterback starts in the regular season in that span. But he's taken 116 sacks (fourth most) in that span and been contacted 345 times (12th most).
"I think he's very mindful of that," Licht said. "I think all quarterbacks, as they progress through their career, I think they are a little bit more in tune with that."
Mayfield did admit on the "4th and South" podcast that he's intentionally taken hard hits to light a spark when making plays outside the pocket.
"Sometimes it might be first down, but our team's in a lull," Mayfield said. "There's certainly points I can definitely be better about it, and I know that. But every once in a while, the guys need a little kick in the ass."
The Glazers, who own the Buccaneers, have never had to sign off on top dollar quarterback money. They won their first Super Bowl with veteran journeyman Brad Johnson, who was not under a lucrative deal. Even when seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady signed with the Buccaneers, he averaged $25 million per season. Twelve quarterbacks will make at least double that in 2026.
In their initial talks, Mayfield said the Bucs were "not anywhere close" to what he and his agent were looking for -- not to reset the market but to be in the range of his peers. Sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Mayfield and his agent used Green Bay's Jordan Love (four years, $55 million per year, $160.3 million total guaranteed), Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence (five years, $55 million per year, $200 million total guaranteed), and San Francisco's Brock Purdy (five years, $53 million per year, $182.55 million total guaranteed) as comps during the negotiations.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Mayfield's issue wasn't just length of the deal or guaranteed money. While he did not set out to reset the market, $50 million per year would have put Mayfield 13th in the league among current deals.
But those numbers will jump significantly over the next eight to 12 months because several quarterbacks are in line for new deals in Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels. The $50 million benchmark today will be $60 million soon, a source explained. Another not involved in Mayfield's negotiations but who represents one of those quarterbacks believes there will indeed be at least one $70 million quarterback. What also must be considered is that the salary cap is expected to rise.
Sources told Fowler that in the Bucs' last offer prior to camp, they did come in offering a two-year deal worth slightly above $100 million in total. But Mayfield wanted longer than that and he was dissatisfied with the guaranteed money.
When asked about ownership's comfort level in spending that kind of money long-term and the thought process in making that type of investment, Licht said, "You're always comfortable with a great player and you make things work."
Mayfield's also having to navigate the loss of his top wideout and the franchise's all-time leading scorer in Mike Evans, whose departure in free agency for the San Francisco 49ers sent shockwaves throughout the team.
Then he spent large portions of camp without three of his top four wide receivers in Jalen McMillan (knee sprain), Emeka Egbuka (toe sprain) and Johnson (groin strain). On top of that, Wirfs missed nearly all of camp with a hamstring strain but he returned to practice.
Wirfs returned to practice Aug. 19 and Johnson Aug. 25. On Wednesday, before the team broke for four days, McMillan and Egbuka were running off to the side with the training staff.
They all should be ready for the season, with Bowles saying "They're headed in the right direction," but Mayfield believes their absences gave them a chance to explore different packages and work on his rapport with rookie third-round draft pick Ted Hurst III, who the Bucs believe possesses a lot of the physical attributes as Evans.
"You can just see it in [Mayfield's] eyes every time he takes the field," Johnson said. "When he's in a huddle calling a play, he's very intentional with the young guys and just getting them to learn because it's a moving train."
Mayfield threw a jump ball to Hurst during a two-minute drill in joint practices at the New York Jets. While he didn't come down with it, Hurst told ESPN it "gave me a sense that he believes in me to attack the ball."
Which is where Mayfield is now, attacking his preparation for Week 1 at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 13 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). He's aware that some prognosticators have expressed doubts about a team without Evans, and about his health, or how a looming contract situation could negatively impact his headspace -- never mind that he embraces the motivation.
"Baker's pissed off every year and every game," Bowles told WDAE Radio this week. "He wants to beat the piss out of somebody. This is nothing new. It's a normal deal for him, whether it was a contract or not. We'll get the best Baker Mayfield that you can probably get."
Carter added, "He loves that. I don't think he always did love it. Certainly growing up -- that's not something that feels great, but I think now he's a master at it. And so any type of adversity that comes his way, he's just going to be like, 'Okay, no problem. We're going to figure this out.' And that's what he does well."
Mauch believes Mayfield when he says, "It's only going to get worse from here."
"He's going to go off," Mauch said. "... No doubt in my mind, he's going to go up and [and put up MVP or Offensive Player of the Year numbers] and get even more money now. So it's going to work out better for him in the end. I'm excited to see the way Bake uses this year."
Carter's excited as well, because he knows firsthand what can come of doubting his former player.
"I mean, he's always had the mindset of, 'Yeah, I'm not going to let you get one over on me,' Carter said. "That's kind of his deal. I've been saying this about him for a long time. I believe in trends, so I know how it'll work out for Baker. It's going to work out good because it always does."
