Bucs Handing Baker Mayfield Same $55 Million Salary as Josh Allen, Joe Burrow Baffles Fans – “Dude is Mediocre”

Baker Mayfield has come a long way since playing on a one-year $4 million prove-it deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Bucs Handing Baker Mayfield Same $55 Million Salary as Josh Allen, Joe Burrow Baffles Fans – “Dude is Mediocre”

Baker Mayfield gets $165 million extension (Image via Sleeper NFL/X)

All throughout the offseason, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans were clueless about the future of quarterback Baker Mayfield, as he was about to enter the final year of the $100 million contract he signed in 2024.

At first, the 31-year-old was expressing his frustrations with the negotiations for a new contract. The quarterback was clear that he did not want to leave the team that basically gave him a second lease on his life in the NFL.

But at the same time, he wanted to be paid what he deserved. That meant that he was angling for a significant raise over his $33.3 million average salary. However, with the Bucs missing out on the playoffs last season, no one was sure what he was hoping to achieve.

Then, Mayfield went about his business as a leader of the team, making sure that his teammates were on the same page as he and the rest of the coaching staff.

When it was going right, he praised the team’s effort. Then, when they were atrocious, he called it out as well. By now, fans would think that contract negotiations might be improved, as he never mentioned the topic again.

It’s a 3-year, $165M deal for Baker Mayfield. That comes in at $55M per year.

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Even the insider was caught off guard by this news, since there was no chatter about it from either Baker Mayfield or even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It seems they wanted to avoid the distractions from earlier in training camp, as the team prepares for their Week 1 clash.

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Fans react to Baker Mayfield’s salary

Now that the secret is out of the bag, the first reaction fans had was when they realized that Baker Mayfield is about to earn the same salary as the past two league MVPs, Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford, and another top-tier quarterback, Joe Burrow.

Fans argued that the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner was not in the same category as those other signal callers, and neither has his effort so far for the Buccaneers been good enough to justify that salary. Check out examples of those reactions below.

The lack of playoff success might not be completely down to Baker Mayfield’s abilities, since injuries and not having an elite squad did hamper the Buccaneers’ chances in the past few years. However, fans are simply not convinced that he is worth $55 million a season.

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Baker Mayfield’s stats counter fan opinion

While fans believe that Baker Mayfield is not a quarterback worthy of earning $55 million a season, research shows that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star is probably better than the general opinion of him.

Baker Mayfield's numbers prove he is elite
Baker Mayfield’s numbers prove he is elite (Image via Sleeper NFL/X)

Baker Mayfield since joining the Buccaneers in 2023…
🔸1,114 completions (2nd)
🔸12,237 pass yds (3rd)
🔸95 pass TD (2nd)
🔸100 total TD (4th)
🔸11 games with 300+ pass yds (5th)
🔸30 games with 2+ pass TD (2nd)

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These numbers prove that Baker Mayfield might be quietly making his case as one of the better signal callers in the league. Now, the Bucs would only hope that with the contract secured, their quarterback can lead them back to the postseason.

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