The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the midst of arguably their biggest offseason in the history of the franchise. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is one of the huge free agents that the team is going to need to figure out if they want to sign him to a long-term deal to be the team’s franchise quarterback.
Baker Mayfield had an outstanding 2023 season as he finished the regular season going 364-of-566 (64.3 completion percentage) for 4,044 yards with 28 passing touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He even did well in his two playoff games as he went 48-of-77 (62.3 completion percentage) for 686 yards with six touchdown passes to two interceptions.
However, the projected tag for the quarterback position has the team paying $36.367 million fully guaranteed for the 2024 season. With Baker Mayfield publicly saying he would love returning to Tampa Bay so would the franchise tag make the most sense?
Should the Tampa Bay Buccaneers give Baker Mayfield the franchise tag?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an estimated $33.7 million in effective cap space per Over The Cap after resetting their cap number a bit last season. However, they were able to be extremely successful in a year where they were not expected to do much. This would be the ample opportunity to work out a long-term deal with Baker Mayfield and save the franchise tag for either wide receiver Mike Evans or safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
The idea of placing Mayfield on the franchise tag would be interesting but you have already seen what he can do in this offense. With some drastic changes expected to happen in Tampa, this is solidifying the most important position to the NFC South Champions. This would also help attract free agents as he is arguably the best quarterback in the division and could get players wanting to compete with Mayfield throwing the ball.
Getting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback locked down for multiple years would be significant for the franchise going forward.
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