Bucs Mailbag: The Latest Scoop On Baker Mayfield

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Do we now think Baker Mayfield will re-sign soon? It sure seems like he and Mike Evans have been presenting a unified front.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Yes, with the Bucs re-signing wide receiver Mike Evans on Monday morning, that should only accelerate the possibility that Baker Mayfield re-signs soon – hopefully before the start of free agency on March 11 at noon. That’s when the open negotiation period begins and other teams can contact Mayfield and his agent and make offers.

However, Mayfield can’t sign with another team until the official start of free agency on Wednesday, March 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET. But if Mayfield is not re-signed prior to March 11, other teams can bid up his price, which could make him re-signing with the Bucs more costly.

It has been reported that Mayfield will not be giving the Bucs a hometown discount, although he does have strong interest in re-signing with Tampa Bay. Knowing that Evans will be in red and pewter for at least the next two seasons should make Mayfield feel even better about signing an extension with the Bucs.

However, if Mayfield hits free agency, Tampa Bay will have some competition for his services. Both Atlanta and Minnesota are expected to be in the hunt for Mayfield if he makes it to the open market next Monday.

Yet I had one team source tell me the Bucs are optimistic a deal gets done this week prior to the start of free agency. Tampa Bay is expected to retain Mayfield and then begin working on contracts with All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., linebacker Lavonte David and kicker Chase McLaughlin before signing Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs to a lucrative, long-term contract extension.

QUESTION: Is there any backup plan in case Baker Mayfield goes elsewhere? The free agent market is pretty scarce outside of Kirk Cousins, and pick No. 26 is too steep a jump into the Top 2 for a QB.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Yes, Baker Mayfield is likely the best option in free agency this year at the quarterback position. Mayfield had a career resurgence in Tampa Bay after signing a one-year, prove-it deal worth $4 million. He had a career year in which he topped 4,000 yards passing with a career-high 28 touchdowns.

Mayfield also became a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career, albeit as an injury replacement. Yet once he got to Orlando, he won the skills competition and was then the Offensive MVP at the Pro Bowl, continuing his successful season.

I do not believe Kirk Cousins would be in the Bucs’ plans if the team somehow didn’t re-sign Mayfield this year. He’s 36 years old, coming off a torn Achilles and has a poor 1-4 career record in the postseason.

As for a backup plan if Mayfield shocks everyone and moves on, the guess here would be either Jacoby Brissett, who was considered last offseason before signing with Washington, and the oft-injured Ryan Tannehill. Either would be a stop-gap journeyman quarterback who would compete with Kyle Trask and a rookie quarterback for the right to start in Tampa Bay in 2024.

The Bucs would also likely draft a quarterback higher than they’re expected to this year if Mayfield were to somehow depart. Tampa Bay had formal interviews with four quarterbacks in Indianapolis – Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Tulane’s Mike Pratt and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler.

QUESTION: With jersey numbers 55, 63 and 99 being retired, and 20, 40 and 47 not being used, what happens with 13 and 54 when Mike Evans and Lavonte David are gone in your opinion?

Bucs ILB Lavonte David and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: The guess here is that the numbers for both Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans and linebacker Lavonte David never get worn again. Whether the team officially retires the numbers or whether they never get put in circulation again, it’s safe to say that Evans and David will be the last Buccaneers to don the No. 13 and No. 54 jerseys, respectively.

Both Evans and David are locks for the Bucs Ring of Honor, too. David will go down in Tampa Bay history as the franchise’s second-best linebacker behind Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks. David has truly had a Hall of Fame career, but his lack of Pro Bowls and All-Pros will ultimately keep him out of Canton.

However, Evans is a future Hall of Famer, and is already the Bucs’ best offensive player of all time. In fact, when Evans makes the Hall of Fame, a strong case could be made that he belongs on the Bucs’ mythical Mount Rushmore next to Brooks and Hall of Famers Warren Sapp and Ronde Barber.

In time, Evans will bump Lee Roy Selmon off the Bucs’ Mount Rushmore because he has set NFL records, franchise records and won a Super Bowl, which is something Selmon didn’t do in his NFL career.

QUESTION: Which college players caught the attention of Bucs management?

Duke OL Graham Barton – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: The Bucs interviewed 125 draft prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, and Pewter Report identified 40 out of the 45 formal interviews that Tampa Bay conducted. That’s usually an indication of the Bucs’ interest, but last year the team went into stealth mode and did not interview defensive tackle Calijah Kancey at the Combine, nor did Tampa Bay have him in for a Top 30 pre-draft visit. Kancey would go on to be the Bucs’ first-round pick.

A total of 10 offensive linemen had formal visits with the Bucs this year, which was the most of any position group. With a hole at left guard and needing an upgrade at center, it’s safe to say the team is drafting at least one offensive lineman – likely by the end of Day 2. The Bucs interviewed at least 21 offensive linemen in Indianapolis – with just over half being informal interviews.

As for the rest of the positions on offense, Tampa Bay had four formal visits with quarterbacks, three formal visits with wide receivers, three formal visits with tight ends and two formals with running backs. As a possible indicator that the Bucs would be re-signing Mike Evans, the team only had eight interviews total with wide receivers – five of which were informal – despite a very deep receiver class.

Tampa Bay scheduled at least eight formal interviews with defensive linemen. Four were with defensive tackles and as many as five were with outside linebacker candidates. Alabama edge rusher Chris Braswell, who was in Pewter Report’s initial mock draft at No. 26, couldn’t remember if he had a formal or informal interview with the Bucs.

Tampa Bay also had three formal interviews with inside linebackers, three formals with safeties and three formals with cornerbacks. The Bucs had 20 interviews with cornerbacks, which was the second-most behind offensive linemen. Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw and Auburn cornerback D.J. James both met with Tampa Bay, but couldn’t remember if those interviews were formal or informal.

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