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Baker Mayfield led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 10-7 record and a division title in a career-best year in 2024. Despite a disappointing early playoff exit, Mayfield’s performance has the franchise feeling confident entering the 2025 season.
Mayfield earned a Pro Bowl selection and plenty of praise from fans for his stellar campaign last year. But a Buccaneers legend dropped the ultimate endorsement on the eighth-year veteran.
Former Buccaneer cornerback Ronde Barber got together with Mayfield to watch film and talk football. And Barber gave his take on the franchise and the quarterback.
“This is a unique place. Tampa loves its football players and obviously loves its team but, you’re the perfect Buc, man. Without players like you, it’s not the same,” Barber told Mayfield, via the team’s official X account.
“[It’s] not only the player you are but the character you are, the personality that you bring to the game. You’re going to be beloved here dude, it’s awesome,” Barber added.
Baker is already feeling the love in Tampa Bay. After landing with the team in 2023 and reestablishing himself as a franchise quarterback, the team signed Mayfield to a three-year, $100 million extension.
The 30-year-old signal caller then topped his Buccaneers debut with a spectacular second season in Tampa Bay. Mayfield threw for 4,500 yards with 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He added 378 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.
After being selected first overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 draft and spending his first four seasons with the team, Mayfield was discarded. Cleveland acquired Deshaun Watson in a trade with the Texans and then handed him a $230 million, fully guaranteed contract.
Mayfield was shipped to the Panthers and ended up on the Rams before joining the Buccaneers and winning the starting job in 2023.
“Anytime you come to a place that’s won multiple championships, you look at the names on the wall. But then, the fact that you guys are all still involved, says something about Tampa as a whole. It says something that, you guys want to come back, you want to be a part of it. It wasn’t just a stop in your career, it’s a chapter in your life that you’re proud of. And that’s what makes this place special,” Mayfield said to Barber.
He took a unique path but Mayfield has finally found an NFL home. Now, he’ll attempt to lead the team to its fifth straight division title and on to its first championship since Tom Brady was under center in 2020.
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