Baker Mayfield’s NFL career hasn’t exactly gone to plan since his first overall 2018 NFL Draft selection by the Cleveland Browns.
The quarterback spent three years with the Browns, before playing for two teams in 2022 in the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams. Baker, 28, now finds himself at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he has a chance to revive his NFL career and help the Sunshine State-based franchise replace the iconic Tom Brady, who retired for the second time earlier this year.
However, if he’s going to extend his one-year, $4million (£3.18m) deal, he’s going to have to compete with Kyle Trask for the starting job. “Kyle (Trask) is just the Steady Eddie,” Bucs general manager Jason Licht said. “He works very hard. He’s very smart. Nothing seems to rattle Kyle.
“And that goes all the way back to his high school days waiting for his opportunity and then thriving when it comes up. So this is going to be a really, really, interesting competition all the way through training camp. Because it truly is going to be a competition. And I know that they’re both very excited to get this thing going.”
Licht did, however, speak highly of Mayfield in a Sirius XM Radio appearance, admitting he’s “really impressed” with the former Oklahoma college football star.
“Baker’s been fantastic here getting adjusted to his teammates and the culture here,” Licht said. “Everybody, our staff, everybody downstairs has been really, really impressed with how he’s handled himself so far.”
Becoming Tampa’s new franchise quarterback may well be Mayfield’s to lose, with his experience far outweighing that of Trask, who is a third-year.
Despite quitting earlier this year for the second time, rumours of a return to the NFL for seven-time Super Bowl champ Brady, 45, have continued to swirl.
Brady was adamant in his retirement on February 1, stating: "I’ll get to the point right away, I’m retiring for good," but dodged fresh questions over his post-playing status last month.
