Insider addresses Buccaneers' plan for QB Baker Mayfield

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote Monday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hiring Liam Coen as their new offensive coordinator "is a good tell on how hard the Buccaneers plan to swing to keep" quarterback Baker Mayfield this offseason. 

Mayfield played under Coen during a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams late in the 2022 campaign. 

"A big part of Coen’s place in the search for Dave Canales' replacement came on the recommendation of Mayfield," Breer explained. Canales recently became the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers. 

Mayfield signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers last offseason, quickly became popular among teammates and then guided the club to a division title and a home playoff victory. According to ESPN stats, he ended this past regular season ranked 12th in the league with a 94.6 passer rating, seventh with 28 touchdown passes and ninth with 4,044 passing yards. 

While Mayfield is set to become a free agent next month, Breer noted that the Buccaneers could use the franchise tag worth roughly $35M for 2024 to retain the 28-year-old's rights. However, it's thought Tampa Bay may need to use the tag on star wide receiver Mike Evans assuming that Mayfield puts pen to paper on a contract.

"That the Buccaneers listened to what Mayfield told them on Coen (he said that the Kentucky offensive coordinator was a great dude, his offensive terminology was really close and his schematics were very adaptable to Canales) is a pretty good sign that Tampa plans to go the distance to get Mayfield done," Breer added. 

The deadline for teams to use their franchise tags is March 5, so general manager Jason Licht has a month to convince Mayfield to accept some type of team-friendly deal that ideally would allow the Buccaneers to hold onto their QB1 and Evans for at least one more season.