As the Bucs enter what will be their 50th season with Baker Mayfield under center for a third straight season, looking back across the franchise’s history reveals quite the collection of quarterbacks that have been Buccaneers. Although plenty of big names and Hall of Fame signal-callers have passed through, none have stayed for very long.
The team has drafted a quarterback high in the first round five times, or about once a decade. Doug Williams, Vinny Testaverde, Trent Dilfer, Josh Freeman, and Jameis Winston each had moments of success in Tampa Bay, but none lived up to their respective draft status.
Craig Erickson, Shaun King, Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, Josh Johnson, Mike Glennon, and Kyle Trask were all drafted in the middle rounds but proved to be a mixed bag.
Steve Young was a special case, as the team drafted him with the first pick of the 1984 USFL Supplemental Draft but he failed to establish himself in Tampa Bay during a dysfunctional time and was shipped off to the 49ers after Testaverde was drafted. We all know what happened after that.
Instead of through the draft, the best quarterbacks acquired by the team have come by signing veterans. Brad Johnson and Tom Brady led the team to Super Bowl wins, but their stints were short-lived as they were already in their mid-30s (Johnson) or mid-40s (Brady) at the time of signing.
Why do I mention these countless other quarterbacks who largely did not receive a second contract?
Because Mayfield has a chance to be different and solidify himself as the quarterback who will have the most longevity and success in Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield Still Has Youth On His Side
One cannot question that the signings of Brad Johnson and Tom Brady are two of the most important in Bucs’ history.
Johnson was the missing piece to help win games while the team had a historic defense that carried them to a Super Bowl victory in 2002. Brady was already known as the best quarterback of all-time when he came to town in 2020, but he still had enough in the tank to hoist the Lombardi Trophy once more surrounded by a talented cast of veteran players.
Baker Mayfield signed with the Bucs shortly after Brady retired in March of 2023 having massive shoes to fill. By now, you know the story of Mayfield being traded from the Browns, released by the Panthers, and signing with the Rams for a five-game stint in a 2022 season that challenged him and his passion for the game of football. He has turned his career around since those dark times, having led Tampa Bay to the playoffs while having Pro Bowl seasons in each of his two years.
Fans have grown accustomed to seeing quarterbacks come and go for the past 50 years, but Mayfield has the chance to be different. Turning just 30 years old in a couple of weeks, he has the chance to captain the team for the next half a decade and beyond. That would separate him from every other signal-caller the team has ever had.
What that allows him to do is continue to work up to the top of the Bucs’ passing leaderboards and cement himself as a franchise legend. He already ranks in the Top 10 in completions (ninth), passing yards (ninth), and passing touchdowns (seventh). What points to his efficiency to get to this level in such a short time is that he has a higher completion percentage and passer rating than Brady did as a Buccaneer.
After across the board statistical improvement last season, Mayfield has become a Top 10 and arguably a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL. There is plenty of optimism the offense will again be one of the highest scoring units in the league, with a set of weapons including running back Bucky Irving, wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan, and one of the best offensive lines in the business anchored by left tackle Tristan Wirfs. That will make his life easier now and for the foreseeable future, which leads us to the next point.
Already compiling 771 completions, 8,544 passing yards, and 69 passing touchdowns in just two seasons, another three years of this production would see him rank first all-time in each category in franchise history.
It would take a Super Bowl victory to put Mayfield in the same stratosphere as Johnson and Brady, but if he has what it takes to lead the Bucs to another boat parade over the next couple of years paired with setting all of the passing records, he will have to be considered the best quarterback the team has ever had, right?
Baker Mayfield And The Bucs Are The Most Stable They Have Ever Been
Stability was what both sides wanted when Baker Mayfield arrived, but it’s safe to say no one expected the results to be this good.
Not only has he improved as a player, leader, and person, but the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft has found a home in the most stable setting of his NFL career. The Bucs have made it their mission to re-sign key players, which has kept the roots of a winning team from the Tom Brady years well and alive.
It has also fostered an environment of players being comfortable one another and up to the task of forming chemistry not often seen in locker rooms. I can only speak based on what I have witnessed in the walls of AdventHealth Training Center, but when you read reports and see interviews from other teams, it is clear that this organization does not incubate in drama or distracting headlines.
Instead, the culture built in recent years is one that is nose to the grindstone. Mayfield embodies that mentality, and that is part of the reason why the fit between player and team has worked out so well.
Tampa Bay has needed to find a quarterback who could lead the troops and be more than just a stopgap solution to an ongoing problem since the franchise’s inception. Mayfield needed to find a team that would give him a chance and to grow in a place where he would be rewarded for his efforts and not tossed to the side for someone else.
It’s safe to say it has already paid off as he received a large deal after putting himself back on the map. Should he continue to put up elite numbers into his 30s, both sides will have the type of stability they once dreamed of.
