Tampa Bay Never Had Leverage With Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield reported to camp with no deal, and Tampa Bay stalling for months didn't create leverage. It built an $80 million trap of its own.
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Baker Mayfield reported to camp with no deal, and Tampa Bay stalling for months didn't create leverage. It built an $80 million trap of its own.
Vita Vea asked the Bucs for a trade. Tampa Bay answered with a permanent mural on Raymond James Stadium instead of a trade call. That is not a coincidence.
Baker Mayfield backed Vita Vea's trade fight instead of saving leverage for his own deal. That's not a nice teammate gesture. That's a message.
Baker Mayfield's camp deadline came and went without a deal. The Bucs just ran the same play that cost them Mike Evans, except this time it's their quarterback.
Gibbs and Mayfield are both in contract standoffs as training camps open. The reasons look different. The cause is the same — and the league designed it this way.
Baker Mayfield set his own training camp deadline on his Buccaneers contract extension — and now he's the one sweating it. Two weeks to sign or get traded.
Baker Mayfield said contract talks are nowhere close and set a training camp deadline. Tampa Bay's response was a shrug. The shrug is correct.
Baker Mayfield set a July 27 camp deadline, the Buccaneers are nowhere close on a deal, and the NFL is running its favorite QB underpayment story once again.
The Bucs expect Baker Mayfield to blink before camp. I have seen this playbook. It ends with a bad deal or burned bridge. They already handed him the narrative.