Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks on against the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers getting ready for the 2026 NFL season with Week 1 on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team and quarterback Baker Mayfield would finally resolve a looming aspect of the year. As the Buccaneers and Mayfield have agreed on a $165 million contract extension before the opener, there is a benefit for the team to get a deal done now rather than later.
According to NFL insider Dan Graziano, there was leverage for Baker for the Buccaneers to get a deal done early, as Tampa Bay would have had to deal with a $30.15 million dead-money cap hit for 2027.
“Baker had some leverage here. His contract voiding next February would have triggered a $30.15 million dead-money cap hit for '27, so if they'd franchised him on top of that, the cap number would have been more than $80 million. Signing him now avoids the dead-money quagmire,” Graziano wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The deal that would get done before Sunday's season opener ended up being a three-year extension, worth $165 million, which has Mayfield earning $55 million each year, according to league insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport.
“Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers reached agreement today on a three-year contract extension that will prevent the quarterback from becoming a free agent after this season, per me and [Ian Rapoport],” Schefter wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Mayfield had broken off talks as camp opened, but with the regular season kicking off this week, a deal has been revisited and now struck.”
“It’s a 3-year, $165M deal for Baker Mayfield. That comes in at $55M per year,” Rapoport wrote on X.
At any rate, with the contract extension done, Mayfield and Tampa Bay can focus on the season ahead of them, starting on Sunday against Cincinnati.