As the football lull slowly draws to a close with July training camp on the horizon, we’ll review developments that have taken place on a position-by-position basis for the Buccaneers.
First, and perhaps most importantly, is the quarterback position. The 2026 season is a critical inflection point for starter Baker Mayfield and his long-term future with Tampa Bay, and the off-season has provided some more insight into how team leadership is handling the situation.
The Baker Mayfield Contract Impasse
The most prominent post-draft headline
came about in early June during mini-camp, when Mayfield himself announced that contract talks were “not anywhere close” with the team. Mayfield is playing on the final year of an extension he signed in 2024, after he revived his career with the Bucs on a 1-year prove-it deal in 2023.
By and large, Mayfield has been an upper-half-of-the league passer in his three seasons with the Bucs, at times even mingling with top-10 play. His high point came in 2024 when he threw for career-highs in yards (4,500) and touchdowns (41) while putting numerous big-time plays on the highlight reel.
He got off to a torrid start in 2025, overcoming several injuries to key players and himself en route to a 6-2 start. Unfortunately, he (and the team as a whole) floundered down the stretch to finish an extremely disappointing 8-9 and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
The disheartening conclusion led to some huge shakeups, most notably the departure of offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, the arrival of his replacement Zac Robinson, and the failure to re-sign franchise great Mike Evans – who went off to the San Francisco 49ers.
Mayfield, who is 31, now must prove he can recreate the highs of 2023-24 to earn himself another long-term deal and possibly match the runs of Trent Dilfer and Vinny Testaverde as longest tenured starting QBs in franchise history (both lasted 6 seasons). It would be rare longevity at the position for the Bucs, which obviously frees them up to continue turning over other vital components of the team but at a significant cost – the average per-year cost of a veteran starting QB contract currently exceeds $50 million, and Mayfield currently averages $33 million.
Mayfield will need to do it with the ELEVENTH offensive coordinator of his career, as well as a receiving corps that has plenty to prove without Evans leading the charge. There’s plenty of talent, but gelling with it all will be pivotal.
Better Backup QB Play…Maybe?
After the disaster that was the Teddy Bridgewater signing last year, the Bucs opted to pursue someone younger with more recent success as a spot starter in Jake Browning, who backstopped Joe Burrow with the Cincinnati Bengals for three seasons.
No one is here to call Browning “good” by any measure (18 touchdowns to 15 interceptions in 17 games [10 starts]), but he has shown to be capable in spurts when he’s not asked to play hero ball.
Bridgewater, soon to be 34, looked completely spent, so Browning offers better youth (a fresh 30) and athletic tools. With that in consideration, perhaps the Bucs might feel more comfortable actually letting their backup play in the event Mayfield gets hurt, who clearly tried to power through injuries he shouldn’t have in 2025.
Promising Practice Squad Stashes?
Third quarterbacks are rarely anything to get excited about, as they primarily serve as emergency depth on the practice squad and run the scout team offense.
If you can exhume a decent backup from the wasteland, that’s a big-time win. The Bucs currently have Connor Bazelak, a Bowling Green product last year who showed enough in preseason to stick around on the practice squad all season.
He’ll get another chance this summer, but he’ll face a challenge from new undrafted free agent Jalon Daniels from Kansas. The Bucs gave Daniels a hefty contract for a UDFA, as he signed for a guaranteed $247,000 base salary and $25,000 signing bonus.
Daniels was extremely up and down as a starter for the Jayhawks but showcased some intriguing potential – he recorded 9,282 passing yards, 67 touchdowns, and 31 interceptions, along with 1,445 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. A true dual-threat isn’t something the Bucs have really entertained at the position in recent times, though Mayfield’s electric scrambles might protest that assertion.
Regardless, Daniels will be a serious threat to be the new QB3 if he can live up to the buzz he generated in minicamp.
