Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XXXVIII. ROBERT HANASHIRO / USA TODAY NETWORK

Why Jon Gruden thinks Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield is an elite QB

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Buccaneers on SI
By River Wells | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 11:36 AM ET

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden has left quite the legacy with the Bucs. He won the team's first Super Bowl in 2002 after being traded to Tampa Bay (as a coach!), and since then, he's always been around the franchise in some capacity. Gruden is a Ring of Honor member in Tampa Bay and still lives in the area, and he's becoming more popular with NFL fans after landing a content creation job with Barstool Sports.

Given how much he still loves to talk about the Bucs, it makes sense that his former Super Bowl-winning cornerback, Ronde Barber, would have him on the Ronde Barber show at some point. The Hall of Famer and his former coach talked about a few different things on the hour-long show, but eventually, the topic of Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield came up.

Gruden has seen quite a few quarterbacks during his time in the NFL, and he had some high praise for Tampa Bay's signal caller.

Jon Gruden loves Baker Mayfield

When asked about top-tier quarterbacks in the NFL, Gruden had plenty of praise for Mayfield, saying that he plays quarterback in a similar way that Barber played the cornerback position during Tampa Bay's initial championship era.

"This guy's not a sitting duck. His playstyle is contagious. He plays like [Ronde Barber] played — he's reckless, he's tough," Gruden said. "I think the players love him. I love Mayfield. I think the Buccaneers hit the lottery when they got him. How do you go from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield?"

That being said, there was one point of contention that Gruden had. Mayfield led the league in interceptions last year (16), and that's something you never want to see from an NFL quarterback.

If Mayfield fixes that, though? Gruden thinks he can be one of the NFL's top dogs and take the Bucs to the promised land just like he did in 2002.

"If he can cut down on some of the interceptions, I think he could truly be a great quarterback and take the Bucs to the Super Bowl," Gruden said. "I think he can ultimately win the Super Bowl."

Mayfield didn't play during the preseason, but he'll have the opportunity to prove he can be an elite signal caller when he faces off against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 this coming Sunday on the road.