Ceiling not yet reached?
Man, Joe looks back at when Bucs coach Todd Bowles begged and hounded Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht to sign Baker Mayfield.
We still have a ways to go, but could Mayfield in the coming years make that move the best Bucs’ free agent signing outside of Tom Brady?
(And to think there are still some people caterwauling about unemployed Kyle Trask. Can you imagine? You’d think these same folks should be more concerned about DJ Lagway.)
On his podcast, “The Athletic Football Show,” Robert Mays points out that in one critical element, Mayfield last year had [one of the best](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6577093/2025/08/27/nfc-south-predicted-standings-win-totals/) seasons this century.
> “My swing point here is just what Baker Mayfield looks like in high-leverage situations, because he was incredible in those situations last year. He was second in the NFL in dropback success rate on third down, behind only Patrick Mahomes. The Bucs as a team last year, per _TruMedia_, had the sixth-best third-down conversion rate of the past 25 years. The teams that are on that list: the 2011 Saints, the 2006 Colts, the 2004 Vikings and Daunte Culpepper’s MVP-esque season with Randy Moss, the 2001 Rams, the 2022 Bills. For the most part, these are historically good offenses or offenses with MVP-level quarterback play. That’s not going to happen again, but how much of a fall off is there?”
Or, what happens if Mayfield is better? Remember, last year was Mayfield’s first season not just with then-offensive coordinator Liam Coen, but Bucs’ third-down strategist Josh Grizzard.
That same third-down strategist returns this year, leading the Bucs offense. Grizzard is now the Bucs offensive coordinator. So Mayfield already knows what Grizzard wants on third downs and very likely Grizzard has expanded on the foundation he worked on with Mayfield last year.
While Mayfield was superb last year, who says he can’t get better?