Baker Mayfield has made all the right moves in leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to another strong start this season.
With his prolific passing and Houdini-like wizardry in the pocket, he has led the Bucs to a familiar place: atop the NFC South division standings, where they’ve finished first in each of the last four seasons.
But it wasn't Mayfield’s arm or legs that opened eyes in New Orleans this week. It was his mouth.
When asked about facing the Saints on Sunday in the Superdome, the veteran quarterback unleashed a fastball, right under their chins.
“It hasn’t exactly been clean play from their part when we play them,” Mayfield said. “It’s a physical game. It is what it is. You expect it, division rival. Not much else to say besides the fact that I don’t like them.”
And just like that, Sunday’s biannual matchup between the Bucs and Saints got much more interesting. What would have been a snoozer between a rebuilding Saints team and an injury-riddled Bucs squad suddenly got a lot juicier.
While Mayfield’s comments made headlines and caught the attention of the Saints, they refused to return fire or engage in a pregame war of words. The players I spoke to this week downplayed Mayfield’s comments and said they took no offense to them.
Baker Mayfield is ready for his NFC South clash with the Saints 😈 pic.twitter.com/OhHMpBLnXQ
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 24, 2025
Even veteran defensive end Cam Jordan zipped his lips. The loquacious defensive end was noticeably absent from the locker room when reporters were present for interviews.
“Ain't no words need to be said,” veteran linebacker Demario Davis said when asked about Mayfield’s comments. “I don’t think words will do anything for me or him. The game is played inside the white lines. We’ll get to the game on Sunday.”
If this were a decade ago, Sean Payton would have plastered Mayfield’s comments all over the Saints’ locker room. The former Saints head coach was a proponent of mind games. He explored all avenues in seeking an extra edge during the lead-up to a game and often admonished his own coaches and players for providing any extra motivational fuel to the opponent before kickoff.
In that way, first-year Saints head coach Kellen Moore is not a believer in bulletin-board material. He said his players were well aware of Mayfield’s comments, so he didn’t feel the need to mention them to his staff or team this week.
“You can find stuff if you want to dig in every single week,” Moore said. “You can find motivation in every possible way. These are division games. Everyone's excited about division games.”
True dat.
While the Atlanta Falcons will always be Public Enemy No. 1 to New Orleanians and Saints fans, the Bucs have become the biggest rival to players. After all, these two teams have combined to win the last eight division titles. It was the Bucs who eliminated the Saints in their last playoff game, in 2020-2021, ending Drew Brees’ legendary playing career.
Former Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu referred to the Bucs-Saints series as “spirited warfare.” Few NFL rivalries have provided more memorable moments or indelible images than this one over the years.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson mocking Tom Brady.
Jameis Winston poking Marshon Lattimore.
Mike Evans blind-siding Lattimore.
P.J. Williams cart-wheeling Chris Godwin.
“It’s a big rivalry,” Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee said. “These games are always a little bit more intense, physical and chippier than the others.”
Because of the history and longstanding enmity between the teams, Saints players said they didn’t need a Moore pep talk or bulletin-board material this week. The Bucs and their dominant run atop the division are motivation enough.
But Mayfield’s comments certainly helped stoke the flames and heighten expectations for Sunday’s matchup. He wittingly poked the bear, even if these Saints have little bite to them.
“I love trash talk,” Davis said. “I'm for all the smoke inside the white lines. But, I mean, this ain't WrestleMania. So the pregame talk ain't where it's at. (In football) we get a chance to really duke it out inside the white lines. I don't think there's nobody (with the Saints) that's duckin’ smoke.”
Mayfield's comments added some much-needed spice to Sunday's game. The Bucs-Saints is always entertaining, and this one should be no different. Throw the records out the window. Let the smoke show begin.