Bucs’ Mayfield fills Tom Brady’s shoes
It wasn’t that long ago that Baker Mayfield’s NFL career had spiraled to the point at which the quarterback — the No. 1 overall pick only six years ago — was lining up as a defensive lineman on the scout team for the Carolina Panthers.
It was the low point for the Heisman Trophy winner but not much of a surprise. Mayfield struggled in four seasons with the Browns, who traded him to the Panthers. He was waived by Carolina and claimed by the Los Angeles Rams before he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Only this season has Mayfield begun to live up to expectations from when the Cleveland Browns drafted him in 2018 and managed to change his reputation from petulance back to performance. Now the unlikely successor to Tom Brady will lead the Buccaneers — one of only eight teams remaining in the NFL playoffs — into a game Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
His road to rebirth in Tampa began July 6, 2022, when he was traded to the Panthers for a conditional fifth-round draft pick in 2024. He led the Browns to their first playoff victory in 26 years in the 2020 season, but his time in Cleveland was rocky despite that success. There were differences with the front office and a beef with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who felt Mayfield wasn’t targeting him with passes. “We’re good now, and that’s part of me growing as a person,” Mayfield told Pat McAfee in October. “I think normally I would hold a lot of grudges, but no, we’re good. We squashed that.”
Compounding the problems in Cleveland was a shoulder injury Mayfield said sapped him of his self-confidence and petty media boycotts over the team’s reluctance to designate him the starter, leading to the arrival of Deshaun Watson.
In Carolina, he won the starting job over Sam Darnold in 2022, but the swagger that marked his performance in an epic 66-59 college duel with Patrick Mahomes was gone. Five months after he was traded to the Panthers, he was demoted to third string and soon after released at his request.
Mayfield was picked up by the Rams in a December 2022 move born of necessity after injuries. He played two days after he arrived in Los Angeles and led the team on a game-winning drive but was only 1-3 as a starter. He did, however, impress coach Sean McVay, passing for 850 yards and four touchdowns (with two interceptions) in five games.
“He’s done a great job, and if this hasn’t elevated people’s opinions and thoughts of him, I’m not sure what he could’ve done to change whatever the perception is,” McVay said in January 2023.
But there was no place for Mayfield with the Rams, and he became a free agent, signing a bargain-basement deal for a starting quarterback —
$4 million for the season — with Tampa Bay. Although the Bucs finished just a tick above .500, they won their third straight NFC South title and are in the playoffs. In their first-round game, Mayfield passed for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-9 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tasked with being the Guy After Brady, Mayfield “did what he always does — he was himself,” Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said in December. “It’s not as pretty as when Tom was here, but we’re scrappy, and we’re pulling them out, and we’re getting things done.”