As Baker Mayfield enters his third year as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s not unfair to ask the question of what his long term future with the franchise might be.
It’s even more clear when we realize that Mayfield’s 3-year, $100 million contract signed before the 2024 season will essentially be on the table after the upcoming season if Mayfield continues his current ascent. No NFL team lets a truly elite quarterback enter the final season of their contract without a new deal.
Consider that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who Mayfield has outplayed over the last 2 seasons, became the highest paid player in NFL history with a 4-year, $240 million contract extension before the 2024 season. That’s approximately double what Mayfield currently makes.
That’s why the Buccaneers would do well to consider taking a quarterback in the first round — if the right opportunity presents itself — and make sure they have a long-term plan outside of Mayfield.
Consider this scenario: Mayfield does exactly what he does the last 2 seasons in 2025. The Buccaneers go 10-7, make the playoffs but lose again in the NFC Wild Card Round. Or what if Tampa Bay goes 10-7 again and misses the playoffs for the first time in 6 years? At that point, do they still want to have Mayfield as the unquestioned future of the franchise and cough up Prescott-like money?
If the right quarterback is available, the Buccaneers might want to seriously consider drafting a quarterback in the first round for the first time since taking Jameis Winston with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Buccaneers Have No. 19 Overall Pick in First Round
In 2024, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the first round (No. 8 overall) despite having just signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a 4-year, $180 million contract one month earlier.
One year later, it’s Penix’s team after Cousins was benched late in the season. While it’s a financial disaster for Atlanta in the short term, picking Penix may have saved the franchise in the long term.
The Buccaneers have the No. 19 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, and while there are more immediate, pressing needs at edge rusher and cornerback, if Ole Miss star Jaxson Dart falls into their laps it might be a move the franchise can’t pass up.
Dart, 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds, earned All-SEC honors in 2024 and set Ole Miss career records over the last 3 seasons with 12,115 yards of total offense and 10,617 passing yards to go with 84 total touchdowns.
Dart is also the biggest riser in the latest round of mock drafts, leaping into ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft at the No. 9 overall pick to the New Orleans Saints.
Kiper’s reasoning behind Dart going to the Saints can pretty much be applied to the Buccaneers.
“I’m hearing more and more first-round buzz on Dart, and New Orleans seems like a good fit,” Kiper wrote. “He wouldn’t be forced to play right away and could learn behind (Derek) Carr. This team still has a lot of roster-building decisions to make, but getting the QB of the future now does make some sense.”
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