Insider reveals if Baker Mayfield could've left Buccaneers in free agency

It appears quarterback Baker Mayfield was serious about leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent before he and the club reportedly agreed to a three-year, $100M deal with a maximum value of $115M and $50M guaranteed less than 24 hours before the start of the NFL's legal tampering portion of free agency that got underway at noon on Monday. 

"These negotiations were not smooth sailing," league insider Peter Schrager said about the Mayfield-Buccaneers situation during Monday's edition of the NFL Network "Good Morning Football" program, per the JoeBucsFan website. "Baker was going to test the market. [The Bucs] had to step up their offer. [Mayfield] wasn’t just coming back at a hometown discount." 

It was reported shortly after the Buccaneers held onto wide receiver Mike Evans via a new two-year deal last week that Mayfield would "not take a hometown discount to stay" with the club. Jenna Laine of ESPN said this past Friday that sources told her discussions between Mayfield's camp and the Buccaneers had "been moving along 'slowly' but with no indication of any hiccups." That same day, Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht acknowledged he wasn't taking "anything for granted" regarding the future of the signal-caller who guided the club to a division title and a home playoff victory this past season. 

"He still was on that edge [of talking to other teams during legal tampering]," Schrager added about Mayfield in his Monday report. "He got what he wanted and he got what he deserved." 

Schrager may not be entirely accurate considering it was believed as recently as ahead of the weekend that Mayfield wanted a deal similar to the four-year contract that could be worth up to $160M that New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones received last offseason. However, Laine mentioned in a piece published Sunday evening that "money was not the determining factor for Mayfield's return" because the 28-year-old instead cared more about "organizational stability and the right culture." 

Mayfield was employed by the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams from January 2022 through February 2023 before he signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers last March. 

"Plus, Mayfield and his wife, Emily, already had planned to spend the offseason in Tampa as they anticipate the birth of their first child next month," Laine continued. "It was important for them to reestablish their roots after being with four organizations in less than a year." 

Whether or not Mayfield will have a long-term NFL home with the Buccaneers shall be seen, but he can rest easy knowing he received additional financial security without having to test the open market this week.