Bucs QB Baker Mayfield Ranks No. 1 In Weirdest Category

One can argue that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been Baker Mayfield's saving grace in his NFL career.

After playing for the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield bounced around the league to the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams, looking destined for the NFL scrap heap.

But in Tampa Bay, Baker has found a new lease on life and is playing the best football of his career as the Buccaneers' bonafide starting quarterback.

For NFL.com's Tom Blair, in naming the best quarterback additions since 2020, has named Mayfield the best rescue project.

“The Bucs provided him with the most stability and the best supporting cast of his NFL career," Blair writes. "Mayfield rewarded them by leading a pair of consecutive playoff trips -- and, maybe even more importantly, saving them from having to transition from Tom Brady to Kyle Trask. But Mayfield's resurgence does suggest it is important to value -- or at least consider -- how the overall picture might be impacting a quarterback's progress in a given situation, and to think about what they might need to reach their potential.”

Mayfield's time in Cleveland wasn't good, leading some to think he was a "bust" but since arriving in Tampa Bay, a place where he is loved and welcomed, Mayfield has been a Pro Bowler in 2023, and was again in 2024 to put an exclamation mark on his two seasons in the NFC South.

"Rescue Project'' is sort of a weird category to be ranked No. 1 in. But ...

With a stable organization behind him, and a front office that has given him good weapons, we are seeing a different Mayfield, and it is good for the soul.

The Buccaneers have been to back-to-back postseasons, with Baker as the leading man, something that seemed like fantasy 24 months ago.

His career felt like it was only going to end one way a couple of years ago, but the Buccaneers saw something in him, gave him a chance, and now here we are.

The rescue project has been completed.