Buccaneers' Tristan Wirfs offers strong Baker Mayfield statement

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs left little doubt he wants Baker Mayfield to remain the club's starting quarterback past this season. 

"Oh, he knows how I feel," Wirfs said about Mayfield during an appearance on Tampa Bay sports radio station WDAE, per the JoeBucsFan website. "That’s my boy. You know, love him to death, and I know it’s going to be a blast if he’s able to come back. He’s a great person."

As Adam Slivon of Pewter Report mentioned, Mayfield and Wirfs became fast friends after the signal-caller signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers early last offseason. Mayfield then produced arguably the best campaign, to date, of his career en route to guiding Tampa Bay to a division title and a home playoff victory. 

While Mayfield currently is on track to reach free agency next month, it's thought that the Buccaneers hiring Liam Coen as their new offensive coordinator could help keep the 28-year-old attached to the club for at least another season. Mayfield first had Coen as a coordinator across a handful of games when both were with the Los Angeles Rams during the 2022 campaign.  

Coen is replacing Dave Canales, who recently became head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Per ESPN stats, Mayfield ended his first regular season with Tampa Bay ranked 12th in the NFL with a 94.6 passer rating. He was seventh with 28 passing touchdowns and ninth with 4,044 passing yards. 

It has been suggested that Mayfield could sign a contract similar to the four-year deal reportedly worth up to $150M that New Orleans Saints starter Derek Carr received last year. Such an agreement could allow the Buccaneers to retain star wide receiver Mike Evans via the franchise tag, if necessary. 

JoeBucsFan noted that Tampa Bay teammates and head coach Todd Bowles "love" Mayfield. One would think that reality combined with the quarterback's play would cause general manager Jason Licht to ensure that the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft is locked down via a contract that runs beyond next season.