Former agent expands on contract idea for Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield

Former agent and current CBS Sports NFL contracts and salary cap expert Joel Corry predicted last week that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could re-sign quarterback Baker Mayfield via a contract similar to the four-year deal reportedly worth up to $150M that Derek Carr received from the New Orleans Saints last offseason. 

Corry expanded on his thoughts during an appearance on Tampa Bay sports radio station WDAE. 

"Derek Carr, on paper, is $37.5M per year, but when you look at the structure of the deal, that’s misleading," Corry explained, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "There’s $50M in the last year of the deal. It’s really $100M over three years, at best. It’s $60M in cash over the first two years. It’s structured where he’s got a low cap number the first year, about $7.2M because he’s got a $28.25M signing bonus." 

The structure of a potential Mayfield deal is important, as both he and star wide receiver Mike Evans are among noteworthy Tampa Bay players set to reach free agency in March. 

Buccaneers senior advisor Bruce Arians recently revealed he believes the club will keep both Mayfield and Evans, but signing one would allow Tampa Bay to retain the other's rights for 2024 via the franchise tag similar to how the New York Giants held onto quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley last offseason. 

"If you can get Baker to buy off on a team-friendly structure with a cosmetically-inflated average, which would really be in the low 30s, that would be a compromise," Corry added about Mayfield's future. 

Using the franchise tag on Mayfield would reportedly cost the Buccaneers slightly less than $36M for 2024 unless the two sides worked out a contract before the summer deadline for such agreements. 

If Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht gets Mayfield to accept a deal in the ballpark of Corry's proposal sooner rather than later, the executive would have until the Mar. 5 deadline for teams to use their franchise tags to re-sign Evans.