The 2024 season was easily the best ever for Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, as he took his game to a level many didn't think he had.
A total of 4,500 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, a completion percentage of 71.4, and a passing rating of 106.8, where all career-highs...and that was without Mike Evans for a month, and Chris Godwin out for the year after Week 7.
He's got both back now, fully healthy, a new receiver in Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Cade Otton, and star back Bucky Irving. That is quite the list of weapons.
But is it enough for Mayfield to win MVP in 2025? Yeah, that's an outlandish question, but Bleacher Report gives its reasoning as to why Baker could.
"The 2018 No. 1 overall pick was the league's fourth-highest-rated passer while leading the Bucs to another division crown in 2024," Bleacher Report writes.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield
© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Mayfield has the weapons, the coach, and the offensive line to back up his 2024 season and potentially produce better.
Now, improving on 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns is a tough thing to do, but if Baker can get close to both of those numbers, while still winning 10+ games, and reeling in those pesky interceptions, yeah, he'll be in the conversation (he was 11th in MVP voting last year).
But he can't have that month slump where the Buccaneers went 0-4; he'll need to be more consistent.
Do that, and who knows how the MVP race will pan out. Yes, it's a long shot for him to even be in the race, but the NFL is a never-say-never league, and Mayfield has all the tools needed to thrust himself into the conversation.