On October 5, 2025, Baker Mayfield produced one of the best individual performances of the season: 29-for-33 for 379 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions against the Seahawks in Seattle. In hindsight, considering the future Super Bowl champions' defense was arguably the best in the entire league, it's all the more impressive. Add in the tremendous uniform matchup, and it was truly a thing of beauty.
— Maker Bayfield (@BakerClipz) January 21, 2026
Mayfield and the Buccaneers were riding high after that win and again a week later, when Mayfield threw for a pair of touchdowns in a 30-19 win over the 49ers. Tampa Bay was 5-1. Mayfield looked like a legit MVP candidate, having thrown 12 touchdown passes and just one interception.
As quickly as the rise came, it subsided. On a Monday night showdown against the Lions, Mayfield aggravated a knee injury and called out the refs after a blowout loss. The Buccaneers won the next week against the Saints but lost seven of their final nine games, finishing 8-9 and missing the postseason.
Season 3 of Netflix's "Quarterback" documentary series, featuring Mayfield, debuts Tuesday, and Evan Closky of WTSP-TV got early access. Mayfield discloses what was a brutal run of injury luck:
- Week 2: sprained MCL, PCL; bone bruise (knee)
- Week 3: bicep/tendon injury
- Week 7: aggravates bone bruise
- Week 12: AC joint injury
A former teammate said he was going through even more.
"I'm telling you, Baker was going through a lot," Lavonte David said on "The Arena" podcast in April. "Baker had a lot of injuries that you didn't expect a quarterback to play through. He had the oblique injury, he had the shoulder injury, he had a lot of things -- like ankle injury, knee injury -- he had a lot of stuff he was going through. The season's over now, I can talk about it, but he had a lot of stuff that he was going through and he was really trying to push and really trying to be the player that we needed him to be. To be honest, he was doing his thing for the most part."
Week 12 was particularly tough -- Mayfield went just 9-for-19 for 41 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions before being pulled in a 34-7 loss to the Rams -- but give Mayfield credit. He started all 17 games and never seemed to complain.
"Pain is miserable, but toughness shows how bad you want something," Mayfield says in "Quarterback," according to Closky.
Still, there's no denying the massive drop-off in Mayfield's play, and it didn't help that several players, including wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan, missed significant time.
Baker Mayfield 2025 ranks | Weeks 1-6 | Weeks 7-18 |
Yards per attempt | 8th | 31st |
TD-Int | 3rd | 26th |
Explosives per dropback | 4th | 23rd |
Deep throw rate | 2nd | 23rd |
Contract year ahead for Mayfield
Mayfield's chance to bounce back, both physically and in terms of level of play, coincides with a contract year. He's in the final year of a three-year, $100 million contract earned after his surprising career revival in 2023. Pegged as a bridge quarterback on a one-year deal in 2023 after Tom Brady retired, Mayfield instead threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns, led the Buccaneers to the playoffs and made his first Pro Bowl. So there's precedent for him stepping up with free agency looming.
Whether this will be a contract year, though, remains up in the air. Mayfield said he would stop negotiations for an extension once training camp started, and that's just over two weeks away. Former NFL agent Joel Corry looked at the ins and outs of what Mayfield's next contract could look like.
Buccaneers' 2026 outlook, odds
The pressure isn't only on Mayfield, but also on Todd Bowles, who has won just one playoff game in four years in Tampa Bay. The collapse last year was a difficult one for both sides of the ball, as the defense, which Bowles runs, finished 19th in yards allowed and 20th in points allowed. The offense ranked roughly the same -- 20th in yards, 21st in points. Bowles fired offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard after the season and hired Zac Robinson.
With Evans gone, the Buccaneers will rely on Egbuka taking the next step after a strong start to his rookie year gave way to some struggles. The offensive line projects to be one of the better ones in the sport and a running back rotation of Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell and Sean Tucker should be solid, too.
The defense added Alex Anzalone to replace Davis in free agency and EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. and linebacker Josiah Trotter in the first two rounds of the draft. Stalwart nose tackle Vita Vea is still holding down the fort in the middle, and Bowles will hope that Bain, Calijah Kancey, Yaya Diaby and free agent add Al-Quadin Muhammad and others can produce more pressure on the quarterback.
Tampa Bay (+164) is the NFC South favorite according to DraftKings SportsBook, followed by New Orleans (+265), Carolina (+310) and Atlanta (+425). The Panthers are the reigning division champs, but the Buccaneers won it each of the four years prior. Tampa Bay is +118 to make the playoffs.
