Baker Mayfield explains how Buccaneers 'weren’t having as much fun' with Tom Brady

Some suggested during and after the 2022 NFL season that legendary quarterback Tom Brady created unnecessary distractions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as he and Gisele Bündchen went through a public divorce announced in October of that year. 

During an appearance on the latest edition of the "Casa De Klub" podcast, current Tampa Bay starting signal-caller Baker Mayfield touched upon what's changed about the Buccaneers during his tenure with the organization. 

"The building was a little bit different with Tom in there," Mayfield said about the Buccaneers, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out." 

Brady earned six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots from 2000 through the 2019 season before he signed with the Buccaneers as a 42-year-old free agent in March 2020. He then guided Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl LV victory in February 2021 and to the divisional round of the playoffs the following season before he retired in February 2022.

However, Brady confirmed he'd spend another campaign as Tampa Bay's QB1 the following month. It's now known he "wasn’t the real Tom Brady" throughout what became his last season as an active NFL player for understandable reasons. 

Meanwhile, Mayfield was trying to save his career with the Buccaneers at this time last year. He ultimately became a Comeback Player of the Year Award finalist, and he later earned a home playoff victory that helped him receive a new three-year contract from the franchise this past March. 

"...Everybody was expecting the Bucs to not be good last year," Mayfield continued during the podcast. "They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football a little bit for guys that weren’t having as much fun and just continue to raise the competition level. They just asked me to be myself. As a player, you really can’t ask for much more than that." 

Regardless of what did or didn't happen behind the scenes within the Buccaneers during Brady's final campaign, 2-0 Tampa Bay is having "fun" with Mayfield in the lineup this season. He and the Buccaneers will next welcome the 0-2 Denver Broncos to Raymond James Stadium this coming Sunday.