Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield opens up about 'Baker be Baker' mentality

Shortly after quarterback Baker Mayfield guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an impressive 32-9 wild-card playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles in January, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles noted how the organization let "Baker be Baker." 

Mayfield recently spoke with Chris Broussard of FS1's "First Things First" about how he initially got to know Bowles when the coach was with the New York Jets ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft and about how Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht told the 28-year-old "to be myself" and "be the best version of that" after the signal-caller signed a one-year contract with the club last offseason. 

"And that is an empowering feeling for a guy who has been asked to contain who he is as a person and wears his heart on his sleeves a lot," Mayfield explained, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "It was an empowering thing they allowed me to do."

The Cleveland Browns unceremoniously gave up on Mayfield following the 2021 season, and he then flopped with the Carolina Panthers in the fall of 2022 before he enjoyed some success with the Los Angeles Rams late in that campaign. He indicated during his chat with Broussard that the Buccaneers are thus far the best organization he's encountered since he entered the NFL as the first pick of the 2018 draft. 

"I mean, it starts at the top down," Mayfield said. "How they run the organization. Everybody being on the same page. It’s just, how do you win games? So when there are a lot of voices behind the scenes, you are making a lot of distractions for your players. You are not putting them in a good position to have success and play free. For me, getting to Tampa, it was refreshing."

Such comments make it easy to understand why Mayfield previously revealed the Bucs have the "upper hand" regarding contract negotiations occurring before the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year candidate potentially reaches free agency next month. 

The deadline for teams to use their franchise tags arrives on March 5, so the clock is ticking for Licht to appease Mayfield's camp with an offer that would keep the tag available for somebody else, such as star wide receiver Mike Evans.