The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are locking in their ship's captain for the foreseeable future.
Baker Mayfield and the team have agreed to a three-year, $165 million extension, according to reports. The move keeps the quarterback in Tampa through the 2029 season and ends speculation that he could head elsewhere next offseason.
The contract dispute between the two sides has been a major topic of discussion as the offseason continued, despite Mayfield's desire to remain with the Bucs. The quarterback spoke on June 5 at a youth football camp about the negotiations, telling reporters that those talks were underway.
"Contract stuff, it's happening," Mayfield said, via Fox Sports' Greg Auman at the time. "It's starting, the talks, but not anywhere close to
what we were thinking. Would love to be here long-term and as of right now that's not exactly the case."
That left the two sides without much time to get something done, since Mayfield set a training camp deadline to reach an agreement.
"I would love to have a long-term deal done, but they know my deadline is as soon as training camp starts, we're not doing any contract stuff," Mayfield said. "It's all ball. It's not up to me when that gets done by, so hopefully before that. If not, we're still gonna have a good year."
The new contract was agreed on Sept. 8 on eve of the NFL season so the deadline Mayfield had set was naught.
Eventually, both sides found some common ground and that is great news for Mayfield, who expressed a love for the city back in June.
"We built roots here in Tampa," Mayfield said. We love the community. We love being here. They've embraced us and we enjoy being here. Obviously gonna raise kids here."
Mayfield rebuilt his NFL career during the 2023 season with Tampa after making stops with the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams. He parlayed that success into a three-year, $100 million extension, which was set to end after next season.
The quarterback found a home in Tampa. Now Mayfield can leave his bags unpacked.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers agree to three-year, $165 million contract extension
