Long before veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard linked back up with quarterback Baker Mayfield as members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the two grew close when they were teammates at the University of Oklahoma.
Shepard recently spoke with Ira Kaufman of the JoeBucsFan website about how the Buccaneers helped Mayfield bounce back from the struggles he endured during stints with the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers.
"He just needed someone to believe in him — and that’s exactly what this organization has done," Shepard explained. "With his toughness, you can’t help but feed off him. You see Baker play every single snap like it’s his last."
As much as the Buccaneers don't want Mayfield to "play every single snap like it’s his last," he has routinely suggested throughout his Tampa Bay tenure that he's willing to put his body on the line for the club that helped him resurrect his career.
In March 2022, those running the Browns determined that Deshaun Watson would be an upgrade over Mayfield at the sport's most important position. Cleveland subsequently traded Mayfield to Carolina later that summer, but he and the Panthers agreed to part ways in December 2022.
Mayfield has enjoyed the best run, to date, of his pro career ever since he signed a one-year "prove it" contract to join the Buccaneers in March 2023. He has added two division titles and a playoff win to his NFL resume, and he put pen to paper on a three-year, $100M deal in March 2024.
According to Pro Football Reference, Mayfield ended his second season with Tampa Bay ranked third in the NFL with 4,500 passing yards, tied for second with 41 passing touchdowns, second among qualified players with a 53.9% passing success rate and fourth with a 106.8 passer rating. The 30-year-old could receive a massive extension from the Buccaneers next offseason if he matches or improves upon those impressive numbers later this year.
"I love playing with Baker," Shepard added. "Ever since I was with him in college, he has played with that chip on his shoulder. He’s going to find some reason to give himself motivation. Everything he went through gave him that kind of motivation."
For a piece published on June 10, NFL Media's Judy Battista predicted that Mayfield could emerge as a "dark horse" candidate to win the Most Valuable Player Award for the upcoming season. Mayfield would unquestionably be the best quarterback on the Browns or the Panthers this summer, but perhaps he needed to be discarded by those clubs to become what he is as Tampa Bay's QB1.
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