​How do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield find middle ground for a contract? A to Z Sports put on their negotiating hats for a mock negotiation.The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield are on the clock. The two sides are certainly hoping to find agreeable contract extension terms for a new deal. But we’re not there yet. What would a successful deal look like? A to Z Sports’ Kyle Crabbs and Evan Winter each took a side of this standoff to hold a mock negotiation for the terms around Baker Mayfield’s next contract with the team. Here’s how things could play out and which parts are most improtant to either side of the table.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFeb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesLet’s first start with this. We, absolutely, would like Baker Mayfield to continue to be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The challenge with this is, of course, the skyrocketing price of quarterback contracts across the NFL. It seems the standard threshold for entry into a conversation at quarterback starts in the mid-$50M range. So let’s just tackle a presentation of facts.Baker Mayfield’s 95 passing touchdowns over the last two seasons ranks 2nd among all quarterbacks. But his 37 interceptions over the same period of time also ranks 2nd in the NFL. Baker’s passer rating during his three seasons with the Bucs (97.4) ranks 13th amongst all quarterbacks. The EPA/dropback (0.10) ranks 12th, too. Some things you just can’t measure, which we would include Baker’s leadership and toughness among.We believe we can win a lot of football games with Baker Mayfield. But in order to remain competitive, we can ill-afford to see the quarterback salary balloon beyond a rate that lands him in a fair-market deal among his peers. We wouldn’t dare insult him with an offer that lands among names such as Daniel Jones or Deshaun Watson. Mayfield has been a much more productive and consistent player than either.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut we would like to keep him in or around the secondary tier of $50 million quarterbacks to prevent roster attrition from overwhelming the roster. Names such as Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts all make between $53M and $51M on an annual average perspective. This feels like an appropriate range to land with Baker, especially given the cap inflation.Purdy, Hurts, and Goff all also secured between $100M and $113.6M guaranteed at signing. We’d like to offer Baker two years fully guaranteed. That plus a portion of his salary in Year 3 that is practically guaranteed and will fully guarantee at a later date.FORMAL OFFER: 4-year, $208M contract extension, $104M guaranteed at signing, $25M of 2029 practically guaranteed (will fully guarantee in March of 2029)Dec 11, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa