Baker Mayfield, the first player selected in the 2018 NFL draft, is playing for his fourth team in four years.
He needs to beat out Kyle Trask for the starting job in Tampa Bay to solidify himself, once again, as an NFL starter. Otherwise, he’ll go down the road of being a league journeyman and career backup. After all, he’s 8-16 in his last 24 starts, with 27 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions.
“The last couple of years for me haven’t gone the way I’d draw them up,” Mayfield said Wednesday on a Zoom call to promote his participation in the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.”
Baker has spent the offseason learning yet another new offense. The Bucs hired Dave Canales, who rejuvenated Geno Smith’s career in Seattle, as offensive coordinator. Smith passed for 4,282 yards with 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year after starting just five games in the previous six seasons. His passer rating of 100.9 ranked fifth in the NFL; Mayfield has never had a pass rating above 95.9 (2020).
The Bucs want Canales to use the same template to make Mayfield or Trask productive players.
Trask, a second-round pick in 2021, has thrown nine NFL passes. Mayfield should beat out Trask for the job because he has more pedigree as a former No.1 pick and more experience with 69 career starts.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles has promised nothing. Like most coaches, he’ll probably pick a starter midway through training camp.
“I’m not going to award nobody in shorts and T-Shirts,” Bowles recently told reporters. “In any competition, there’s waiting. You have to see who wins it.”
Typically, we expect more from players like Mayfield, taken first overall in the NFL draft. Reality says we shouldn’t.
In the last 30 years, teams have selected 20 quarterbacks No.1 overall. Only Peyton Manning, who did it seven times, and Cam Newton have been named All-Pro. Although 14 of those 20 quarterbacks played in at least one Pro Bowl, thus far, only Manning and his brother, Eli, have won Super Bowls.
Baker Mayfield’s NFL career ‘hit the reset button’ with Rams
The 27-year-old Mayfield signed a one-year deal that will count $4 million against Tampa Bay’s salary cap. Cleveland traded him to Carolina last July, and he started six games. Mayfield asked for his release and later signed with the Los Angeles Rams. He started four games for the Rams for injured starter Matt Stafford.
“It was the first time I had fun playing football in a few years, so it brought back that feeling of having success and remembering what it’s all about,” Mayfield said. “It hit the reset button for me.
“To be around a coach like Sean McVay and be around those guys in that offense revitalized me. I’m excited, pumped up, and looking forward to the future.”
As an unrestricted free agent for the first time, Mayfield chose Tampa Bay because it provided an excellent opportunity to start and re-establish himself as a starter. Tom Brady had retired, so they needed a quarterback. The Bucs won the NFC South last season, even though they finished 8-9. Mayfield, they believe, can stabilize the position.
He’ll throw passes to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, who combined for 181 catches, 2,147 yards, and nine touchdowns last season. It’s the best set of starting receivers he’s ever had. But the Bucs must replace running back Leonard Fournette, who rushed for 668 yards last season and caught 73 passes for 523 yards.
Bottom line: none of that means much to Mayfield. All he wants is good health and to have fun playing the game he loves.
Sounds simple, right? It’s not.
Playing four years in Cleveland stole his joy. By the time he left, fans booed him as he played poorly through a shoulder injury. He suffered a partially-torn labrum in his left shoulder in Week 2 of the 2021 season. He aggravated the injury in Week 6 and missed a game.
He finished that season with a career-low 3,010 yards passing with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Ultimately, the hoopla surrounding his selection as the No.1 pick seemed so long ago.
At this point, Mayfield wants football to be fun, something it hasn’t been since he led the Browns to an 11-5 record in 2020.
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut and the author of the upcoming book “Coach Prime“, with Deion Sanders. Follow him on Twitter.