Should the Bucs Give Baker Mayfield a New Contract with a Big Raise?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a big decision to make at quarterback, as current starter Baker Mayfield is heading into the final year of his current contract.

While there have been preliminary discussions on a new extension, Mayfield has said previously that the two sides remain far apart on the terms. Mayfield also set a hard deadline of the start of training camp to have a new deal in place, making it clear he won't negotiate on a new deal once his focus moves solely to the upcoming season.

But should the Bucs make another big investment in Mayfield as their franchise quarterback?

Back in 2023, Mayfield and the Bucs both took a chance on one another. Mayfield had bounced around to multiple teams after being booted out by the Cleveland Browns following the Deshaun Watson trade, and Tampa Bay needed a cost-effective replacement for the retired Tom Brady. They settled on a cheap one-year deal, with Mayfield betting on himself, and the Bucs making a low-risk gamble that he could be the player who won the Heisman Trophy and went No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Mayfield delivered a solid performance that season, leading the Bucs to offer him a long-term extension with a massive raise, signing him to a three-year deal worth up to $100 million. Mayfield rewarded them with the best season of his career in 2024, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Last season, Mayfield got off to a hot start, playing at an MVP level while the Bucs rolled to a 6-2 record through the first half of the year. But as injuries piled up on offense, including to Mayfield himself (though he still started all 17 games for the third straight year), his play fell off down the stretch as Tampa Bay dropped seven of their last nine games and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Now, the Bucs are faced with the question of whether or not to pay Mayfield the going rate for even above-average quarterback play. Pretty much every starter in the league who isn't on a rookie contract is getting paid more per year than Mayfield's current deal, which pays him just north of $33 million a season. Daniel Jones is making $44 million a year, while the likes of Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence are all making more than $50 million per season.

Tampa Bay could make that kind of deal, hoping to get something closer to the 2024 version of Mayfield more consistently moving forward. If he can maintain that level of play, paying him north of $50 million a year on another long-term deal would be more than worth it. But if injuries and inconsistency plague him again, it could quickly turn into a regrettable deal that would make it challenging for the Bucs to retain key talent around him.

If the Bucs choose not to extend him, though, they run the risk of going into the 2027 offseason without a starting quarterback, leaving them with a massive question mark at the game's most important position.

What do you think? Should the Bucs hammer out a new long-term deal with Mayfield that gives him a big raise, or should they take their chances and potentially move on next offseason instead of committing to him beyond 2026?