Bucs have never paid top dollar to a quarterback

Buccaneers owner Joel Glazer recently said it doesn’t hurt to write a big check to a quarterback. He wouldn't know, because the Bucs have never done it.

Yes, they paid Tom Brady. But not top-of-market money. When he arrived in 2020, the Bucs gave him $25 million per year. The market, at the time, was led by Patrick Mahomes, at $45 million annually. (Before Mahomes signed his second deal, the market leader was Russell Wilson, at $35 million.)

On PFT Live, Chris Simms and I went through the list of Tampa Bay quarterbacks since the franchise was founded in 1976. (Simms was one of them.) None has ever gotten a top-dollar, market-level contract.

With Baker Mayfield entering the final season of a three-year, $100 million deal, those days could be ending.

It's not like Mayfield will get $60 million per year. But he could be in line for more than $50 million. Consider some of the players who are making north of $50 million. Consider that the cap keeps going up, and up. And up.

That said, too many teams have broken the bank when they didn't have to (e.g., the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa). The Buccaneers currently aren't negotiating against anyone. What if they let Mayfield play out his deal and see what happens?

When he was closing in on free agency in 2024, the Bucs didn't apply the franchise tag to Mayfield. Other teams that should have been interested in Mayfield weren't. Next year, that could change.

The fallback for the Buccaneers is the franchise tag. With a cap number of $39.975 million in 2026, it would cost $47.97 million to keep Mayfield off the open market.

Where will it go from here? It all comes down to whether Mayfield wants a deal that starts with a 5. If he gets one, it'll be the first time the Buccaneers approach the top of the market with a quarterback in 50 years of existence.