Hall-of-Fame cornerback Ronde Barber knows when he sees an elite quarterback in the NFL, but he hasn't seen that for long over the years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A short-stint by Tom Brady aside, the Bucs have struggled to find a consistent quarterback throughout their franchise's history.
Until now.
Since the retirement of Brady, Tampa Bay focused their efforts on Baker Mayfield to be their starting quarterback moving forward. And Mayfield has been sensational since arriving in the organization over the last two seasons.
And Barber has loved every second of it.
"This guy is awesome. And there's so many reasons for me to describe why he is awesome but I'm going to start with the most important," Barber said. "It's his attitude. Yes, he's improvisational. He can get out of the pocket. He can make crazy type throws. But he's also very fundamentally sound,
"Baker is a special, special quarterback. We are lucky to have this dude."
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Mayfield has thrown 69 touchdowns combined in the last two seasons while reaching the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons in Tampa. While he led the league in interceptions this past year, the Buccaneers won the NFC South for the last four seasons, including two led by Mayfield.
While the Bucs have only won a single playoff game during his tenure, the organization is still on in the veteran. And through Barber's film review of Mayfield, it's pretty clear why the Buccaneers should be thankful to be having the former top overall pick.
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This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 8:56 AM.