The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t look like they’re going to be a very good team on paper this year, which doesn’t necessarily count them out of the playoffs. Being in the NFC South Division — the NFL’s worst division — means nobody’s ruled out.
Still, things could go really sideways. Kind of like they did in 2025 when the Buccaneers started the season 5-1 but finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019.
If the Buccaneers go in the tank again, it could lead to a regime change on the field and off, which ESPN’s Dan Graziano believes could lead to Tampa Bay making a big splash with a new starting quarterback as well, with current starter Baker Mayfield an unrestricted free agent headed elsewhere.
The most intriguing option? A future trade for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, who is facing his own crossroads in Philly.
“After another down year, the Bucs and Mayfield agree to part ways,” Graziano wrote on August 20. “Tampa Bay finds itself once again in the market for a reasonably priced QB solution and looks to the draft or free agency. Maybe it takes a shot on someone such as Tyson Bagent or Tanner McKee. Maybe it tries someone such as Michael Penix Jr. if the Falcons are done with him. Maybe this is the team that takes Jalen Hurts off the Eagles’ hands … the point is, the Buccaneers would have options — as would Mayfield.”
Mayfield, Bucs Butt Heads Over Contract Extension
Mayfield and the Buccaneers have been at odds over a contract extension as he heads into the final season of a 3-year, $100 million contract.
The argument and outcomes are all fairly clear-cut in Mayfield’s case. He believes he should be paid like an elite quarterback in terms of the contract length — the Buccaneers do not.
In Mayfield’s world, he should receive a 3-4 year contract that pays him upwards of $50 million per year. The Buccaneers reportedly offered him a 2-year, $100 million contract.
If Mayfield turns around and has the best season of his career, the Buccaneers make a playoff run, and he looks like 1 of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, the price shoots through the roof — think something around $60 million per year — and lots of teams will be competing for his services. If he tanks, like he did last year, he’s still probably going to get that 2-year, $50 million per year contract. It just won’t be in Tampa Bay.
Jalen Hurts Facing His Own Career Crossroads
Hurts is under contract with the Eagles through the 2028 season on the 5-year, $255 million contract extension he signed before the 2023 season but is headed into a year where, like Mayfield, almost every outcome seems possible.
After leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl win following the 2024 season — their 2nd Super Bowl appearance with Hurts as the starter — the team seemed to fall off a cliff in 2025 thanks to a stale offense.
The Eagles excised what seemed like the biggest issue — malcontent wide receiver A.J. Brown — and fired offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. With a new offense under rookie offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, Hurts is under a lot of pressure to put the Eagles back into contender status.
If he doesn’t, that could be the end of the road for him in Philadelphia.
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