The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t the only NFC South team to lock in their starting quarterback this offseason with a hefty contract, but that’s just fine with Baker Mayfield.
Kirk Cousins got a massive four-year deal from the Atlanta Falcons that will pay him an average of $45 million per year, while Mayfield’s three-year deal with the Bucs will average around $33.3 million per season.
When asked during Wednesday’s press conference announcing his new deal whether or not Mayfield left money on the table compared to Cousins’ contract with the Falcons, the former No. 1 overall pick didn’t take the bait.
“For me, I said it immediately after our Detroit game, following the loss: to build a winning team and to have a lot of the key pieces that we needed back to continue this run and improve it, some sacrifices have to be made,” Mayfield said. “Now, listen, this is life-changing money and I’m not going to act otherwise. It’s something that I’ve worked extremely hard for over the years and many years of football. I’m grateful for it. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. There’s nothing to say, ‘Oh, well he got more.’ It’s not that mentality. Knowing that we have a chance to bring back some key pieces and make a further run in the playoffs, that’s important to me. I’m a winner at heart, I hate losing, so knowing that we get a lot of guys back and we can continue to build this for years to come is a special thing.”
Mayfield might have taken a little bit less to maintain his stability in Tampa Bay, but it’s clear that he’s more concerned with winning games than he is squeezing every possible dollar out of his team, regardless of what any other quarterback on the market got.
