Buccaneers Baker Mayfield a ‘Dark-Horse’ MVP Candidate in 2025

   

Baker Mayfield has played a key role in the Buccaneers‘ offensive resurgence over the past two seasons. It’s not an easy task to follow the GOAT, but Mayfield settled in quite nicely during his second season. He finished in the top 3 in the league in completion percentage (71.4%), passing yards (4,500) and touchdown passes (41).

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield celebrates after a touchdown during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome.

Mayfield has led the Buccaneers to consecutive division titles and their 4th-straight overall. Interestingly enough, they didn’t win the division during their Super Bowl season in 2020, finishing 1 game back of the Drew Brees-led Saints. If Mayfield can continue his improvement, the sky is the limit for the 8th-year quarterback and the Buccaneers in 2025.

“With the Bucs climbing the ranks as a dark-horse contender, Mayfield could ride off with the league’s top honor at season’s end,” writes NFL.com‘s Bucky Brooks.

Buccaneers Have Weapons for Mayfield to Enter MVP Conversation

If Mayfield can match his 2024 numbers, Brooks “won’t be surprised if the former No. 1 overall pick rises to the top of the MVP conversation.” While it’s no small task, it should be easier with a fully healthy Chris Godwin, future Hall-of-Famer Mike Evans and an elite young talent in Emeka Egbuka.

Bucky Irving‘s status as an elite running back should open up opportunities for Mayfield to spread the ball around. As Brooks notes, Mayfield should be able to “rack up impressive production directing an offense built on low-risk throws to a collection of dynamic weapons.”

 

A good portion of those ‘low-risk throws’ have come in the quick passing game, which has become one of Baker’s biggest strengths as a Buccaneer. As PFF‘s Mason Cameron points out, Mayfield led the league in adjusted completion percentage (85.8%) and touchdowns (29) on 335 pass attempts under 2.5 seconds last season.

NFL.com‘s Senior Columnist Judy Battista agrees with Brooks, noting that Mayfield earned two fifth-place MVP votes in 2024. But, she believes the Buccaneers quarterback “deserves deeper consideration.” As she notes, though, the path to the MVP will not be as smooth as it could be.

The Buccaneers quarterback will need to overcome two main obstacles to garner more serious consideration for MVP in 2025. He’ll be playing under his third play-caller in three seasons and it’ll be in one of the league’s weakest divisions.

Battista notes that the Buccaneers do have a trio of marquee matchups this season against Philadelphia in Week 4 (home), Detroit in Week 7 (away) and Buffalo (away) in Week 11. So, there should be room for Mayfield and the Buccaneers to impress against top-level competition.

Mayfield’s Struggles ‘Feel Firmly in the Rearview Mirror’

Mayfield entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, but even he couldn’t turn the Browns around. He did lead Cleveland to their first playoff appearance in 18 years, though.

Their Wild Card victory over the Steelers was their first playoff win since 1994 and their first on the road since 1969. As much as the Browns have been a laughingstock for their quarterback play, Mayfield looked like he was the answer.

Unfortunately, his time in Cleveland was mired in turmoil, including 4 different head coaches in 4 seasons. After trading for Deshaun Watson, Cleveland decided to part ways with Mayfield, sending him to Carolina for a fifth-round pick.

That didn’t quite work out, either, as Carolina cut Mayfield after appearing in just 7 games. But, just a few days later, Mayfield stepped in for the Rams to lead a game-winning drive, re-igniting his career.

Mayfield has left his struggles “firmly in the rearview mirror,” pulling off a “remarkable career turnaround,” writes PFF‘s John Kosko. Kosko ranked Mayfield as the No. 13 quarterback in the league heading into 2025, listing him in Tier 3b. He joins Jordan Love, C.J. Stroud, Kyler Murray, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa as solid starters who need more help.

Baker Mayfield has a better surrounding cast with this iteration of the Buccaneers offense than he’s had so far in his career, so his status as a “dark-horse contender” for MVP shouldn’t be too surprising. If the Buccaneers can settle in around first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, Baker Mayfield should be able to live up to the hype and compete for the league’s top honor.