Former agent predicts next contract for Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield will earn more money for the 2024 season than the $4M base salary plus incentives he made for the 2023 campaign.

Former agent and current CBS Sports NFL contracts and salary-cap expert Joel Corry suggested for a piece published Wednesday that Mayfield could soon put pen to paper on a deal similar to the four-year contract reportedly worth up to $150M that Derek Carr received from the New Orleans Saints last offseason. 

"The Carr deal has a team-friendly structure relative to going year-to-year on franchise tags," Corry explained. "Carr has $30M in each of the first two years — 2023 and 2024 — for a total of $60M. Mayfield would make approximately $80M on two franchise tags." 

The Buccaneers may have to tag Mayfield before the March 5 deadline if only to use the asset as a placeholder that would keep the 28-year-old from joining a quarterback-needy team such as the division-rival Atlanta Falcons as a free agent. Corry noted that signing Mayfield to a contract similar to what Carr inked last year could help the Buccaneers hold onto superstar wide receiver and to-be free agent Mike Evans. 

"Having Mayfield with a $7.2M 2024 cap number, like Carr's first-year cap figure, would be beneficial to his desire to keep Evans in the fold," Corry said. "Evans was reportedly seeking in the neighborhood of $25M per year before the season started when his contract demands weren't met."

As for why Tampa Bay shouldn't want to keep Mayfield tagged through 2024, Corry wrote that "the Buccaneers would need to engage in some salary-cap gymnastics to accommodate a Mayfield franchise tag," re-sign other players and bolster a squad that went 9-8 and won a home playoff game this season. 

The JoeBucsFan website pointed out on Wednesday that Mayfield's camp only has so much leverage in negotiations because the Buccaneers can retain the signal-caller's rights using the tag and then utilize some "salary-cap shenanigans." As former NFL executive Joe Banner said for The 33rd Team back in April 2022: "The truth is that almost any team can fit in almost anybody (under the cap) they want if the player is important enough."