Why Buccaneers have 'upper hand' to re-sign QB Baker Mayfield

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield completed multiple interviews on Wednesday and hinted during a chat with the JoeBucsFan website that he'd like to commit his long-term future to his current employer. 

"Everything will happen as it is supposed to," Mayfield explained about possibly becoming a free agent in March. "Being in Tampa and knowing those guys — loved it. I can’t say otherwise. I can’t fake that. And I’m not going to. They have the upper hand when it comes to it." 

The Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers both considered Mayfield surplus to requirements in 2022 before he ultimately spent five games (four starts) that season playing under offensive coordinator Liam Coen with the Los Angeles Rams. Mayfield found new life for his pro career and became a Comeback Player of the Year candidate after he signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers last offseason, and Tampa Bay more recently hired none other than Coen to be its new offensive coordinator. 

"For me, I’ve gone through a lot of s--- to this point," Mayfield said about his NFL journey. "So I also have to do what is best for me in the future. But I also want to win. So there is a lot of balancing of the options and trying to weigh those things out."

Mayfield's endorsement reportedly resulted in the Buccaneers choosing Coen as the replacement for Dave Canales after the Panthers hired Canales to be their next head coach. During his introductory news conference on Tuesday, Coen praised Mayfield as an "igniter" and "the type of guy that you want to be around." 

Like Mayfield, Buccaneers superstar wide receiver Mike Evans is on track to become a free agent next month. Mayfield understandably wants to continue playing alongside Evans, and the signal-caller told JoeBucsFan on Wednesday that the chances are "pretty high" that Evans will stay put if Mayfield remains with Tampa Bay. 

Of course, logic suggests it's unlikely Mayfield is going anywhere considering Tampa Bay's hiring of Coen combined with the fact that general manager Jason Licht can retain the 28-year-old's rights via the franchise tag. Mayfield sounds willing to at least consider signing somewhat of a team-friendly deal that would keep the tag available for Evans, but it seems there's still work to be done regarding negotiations ahead of the March 5 deadline for teams to use their tags.