Do earlier career setbacks make success with Buccaneers sweeter for Baker Mayfield?

In the summer of 2024, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield acknowledged that being discarded by both the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers in 2022 made him feel "like a piece of dirty laundry." 

Now, in October 2025, Mayfield is a legitimate Most Valuable Player Award candidate after guiding Tampa Bay to a 5-1 record. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Mayfield was asked if the setbacks he endured earlier in his career make it "sweeter" that he has found a long-term home with the Buccaneers. 

Baker Mayfield not worried about proving doubters wrong

"No. Wins are wins," Mayfield responded, per the Buccaneers' website. "We are sitting at 5-1, and you look at the only interception I have had is when we lost. You look at that, I look at, 'How do we win?' That is what I am worried about and focused on."

In March 2022, the Browns replaced Mayfield with Deshaun Watson in what could go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history. Later that year, Mayfield flopped with the Panthers before he was demoted to third on the depth chart and then released in early December. 

With the Buccaneers, Mayfield has helped them reach the playoffs in his first two seasons with the club. He tossed 12 touchdown passes and only one pick as he notched five wins over the opening six weeks of the ongoing campaign. 

"Our team, I believe in it," Mayfield added. "I said it from training camp. I like the young guys that we have. I like the people that we have." 

Is Baker Mayfield already scoreboard watching with playoff seeding in mind? 

If the 2025 season ended on Oct. 17, the Buccaneers would enter the playoffs as the NFC's No. 1 seed. Mayfield insisted he and the rest of the Tampa Bay locker room won't take part in any scoreboard watching as they spend Sunday preparing for the "Monday Night Football" matchup against the Detroit Lions (4-2).

"There is a lot of ball left," Mayfield explained. "[I am] not looking at the standings. You do that. You consider if we were looking at the standings the last couple of years here in Tampa, probably would have gone in the tank. There is a lot of ball left."

As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had the Buccaneers as 5.5-point road underdogs against the Lions. If Mayfield leads Tampa Bay to an upset victory at Detroit's Ford Field, he could begin Tuesday as the betting favorite for the regular-season MVP Award.