“Baker is at the forefront of our minds at all times,” he said Tuesday on The Drive with TKras. “All of our plans revolve around Baker. That’s something we’ll find out at some point. I’ve had a lot of conversations with Baker about the team. We texted during the draft after some picks. I know he was excited about the players we took. We have a great relationship. And look, nobody here wants Baker to play with any other team, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
The Bucs could let the 30-year-old play out his contract, then play the scoring game. However, it rarely goes well for the club and leads to other mid-season disruptions. Baker is not the first negotiator who is still trying to find his footing. The past three seasons have shown him to be valuable. Frankly, the fact that the Bucs got him relatively little in recent campaigns was a blessing. When it comes to defenders, the good ones don’t stay cheap for long.
The question is how high up the center money list Mayfield goes. Daniel Jones’ $44 million per year contract appears to be the absolute floor. Honestly, if the Bucs could get him to sign for that, they would jump so fast that Licht would probably blow his back. At this point, it seems more likely that Baker will become the 11th QB to reach $50-plus million.
Mayfield played at an MVP level last season before injuries to himself and the crew around him sank the Bucs’ ship. His game has proven that he is worth more than bridge-QB money. When that is done and how much the deal is worth are questions the club hopes to answer in the coming months.