What makes Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield a natural, charismatic leader | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

Mike Florio and Chris Simms discuss how Baker Mayfield is rare for having physical talent as well as natural leadership and how he knows sacrifices have to be made when building a winning team. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #buccaneers
» Watch Pro Football Talk live on Peacock weekdays 7a-9a: peacocktv.smart.link/v82e9dl56
» Subscribe to NFL on NBC: kzbin.info?sub_...
» Get the latest from Pro Football Talk: profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/
NBC Sports Group serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. NBC Sports is an established leader in the sports media landscape with an unparalleled collection of sports properties that include the Olympics, NFL, Premier League, Big Ten, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, the Kentucky Derby, Tour de France, French Open, IndyCar and many more. Subscribe to our channel for the latest sporting news and highlights!
Mike Florio, creator of the industry-leading Profootballtalk.com, offers his NFL insight alongside regular guests, including former NFL athletes such as Chris Simms. Pro Football Talk informs and entertains with the most up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the topical NFL stories of the day.
Watch more from NFL on NBC KZbin: / nflonnbc
Visit NBC Sports: www.nbcsports.com
Find NBC Sports on Facebook: / nbcsports
Follow NBC Sports on Twitter: / nbcsports
Follow NBC Sports on Instagram: / nbcsports
www.nbcsports.com/nfl/sunday-...
nbcsports.com/motors/nascar
nbcsports.com/soccer/premier-...
What makes Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield a natural, charismatic leader | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
/ nflonnbc

[@louieflash7190]

Baker just seems to fit right in with the entire Buccaneers theme. He has that swashbuckling attitude. The bonus for him is his wife is happy living in Tampa.

[@paulsaunders7634]

The bucs front office in recent years have not missed

[@blowandchill3848]

Agreed but they have to play better this coming up season. 9-8 is not good enough

[@nickster1135]

Are u sure cause they still have Trask

[@_laveer]

@@nickster1135okay fair they missed that one time

[@alexmalt]

It's kind of easy to not miss in that division. Not missing in the South is simply not being one of the worst teams in football.

[@daviddunn7294]

We have drafted well and have paid the full rent for our 2nd Championship! We're in better shape than most think! Ps. We have stud tackles that are 23 and 24!

[@BrBcouchfire]

Put some respect on Jason's name. Dude is killing it this offseason. (and most others)

[@sirbandit170]

So happy to have Baker back. He has the heart and grit of a Buccaneer.

[@MrMuaythai84]

he is turmp supporter i am done with the bucs

[@sirbandit170]

@@MrMuaythai84 lol bye

[@Rhoderick-bu3gb]

​@MrMuaythai84 I don't mix politics with Football.

[@Steven-cz4mv]

What's a turmp?

[@20Schmidt]

Thought once Evans returned, Baker was returning

[@gareybuff7886]

Cousins has 1 playoff win in 12 years

[@R7wStandOverShit]

Im convinced Kirk's agent blackmails teams for their trade deals. Dude gets Mahomes level money and doesnt do anything lol

[@user-cv8uw7ph9w]

Mahomes level money…. Pat half a billion. Kirk got 1 fifth of that… Kirk’s Elite.

[@pewterpirate4560]

Like Brady said... mediocrity

[@R7wStandOverShit]

@@user-cv8uw7ph9w Please stop throwing around the word "Elite" and make it not mean nothing. If Kirk is "Elite" then so is half the league. Dumb take I hope you are just a confused Falcons fan

[@RobertJankowski-zq3di]

@@R7wStandOverShitMahomes has a 10 year, 450 mio deal. Cousins has signed a 4 year, 180 mio deal. ;o) Is Cousins worth the money? No, he is totally overpaid! I really hope we beat the shoot out of the falcons the next years!

[@jmreasor10]

Besides brady, I've never loved our starting QB more in 30 years, just love his energy, his grit, and I hope he stays for a long time, I want Baker to retire a buc, I want his name in the ring of honor, I just hope he stays healthy and we stay competitive year in and year out so he has that opportunity

[@edwardthatch999]

I agree. When we first signed him I was not crazy about it but I told my buddy that it was a no risk deal, he would either fail or be the second coming of Brees.......not sure he is At Brees level yet but his play completely won me over last season. I was completely wrong about Baker. Go Bucs!!!

[@Mr_Mcfeely]

That's my QB ✊

[@vespasian8572]

Let's gooo! 😆

[@CoryLowe]

Baker had other offers but if you really think a guy like Baker was going to any other team you'd be insane lol Baker can finally have some consistency with a stable organization

[@jtturner1508]

Florio keeps saying there was nothing else out there for Baker and there's no way that's true. He took less because he loves the team, loves the city, wants stability more than anything and wanted to be able to afford to bring key guys back

[@Mr_Mcfeely]

Pretty sure the nothing else out there is in reference to when he was a fa last year and the Bucs were the only ones there to give him a shot

[@ferretsmiles]

That's a joke and you know it. There would be what maybe one or two teams willing to come close to what Tampa offered. Look at the qb moves that were made this off-season, only two involved big money baker and cousins. The rest either want rookies, are tanking, and/or dealing with the salary cap.

[@JJ_5289]

Im sure he would have taken another offer if the price was right. Its one thing to love the city and want stability, but there's no guarantee of stability anywhere you play in the nfl. One bad injury and your career could be over. If there is a much better offer out there, players are going to take it

[@Buc_Stops_Here]

@@Mr_Mcfeely Not true. There were two teams interested in Baker but Baker told his agent he only wanted to go to Tampa. Why? Because the saw the success Tom Brady had for three years straight and thought "this team is ready to go." Denver and New England wanted him too but as you can imagine, he did not want to sign up for another train wreck after playing for Carolina and Cleveland.

[@ferretsmiles]

@Buc_Stops_Here I call bullshit. The broncos didn't have the cap space for baker. They are saddled with the Russell Wilson cap hit and are setting up to tank.

[@SnatchBuckler]

Great vibes in BucVille right now. Our GM is on fire

[@edwardoorjitham7714]

Are we really discussing 30 vs 50 m?? For most of us, this is unfathomable money! So glad Baker is happy with Bucs and vice versa! Go Bucs!!

[@butchkauffman8187]

Baker has the heart of 10 lions. Back has always been against the wall. He knows how to get back up.

[@cameronmccollough98]

Diehard 49ers Faithful fan here. If Brock had a shit year I would've wanted Baker. But we ALL KNOW Brock was a top 5 QB FOR A SEASON AND A HALF!!! Mad respect for Baker. I'm happy for him. I hope he just keeps the main thing the main thing & Baker will be a pretty good QB.

[@sadonaut]

Building the Bakerneers and win the Bowl ❤🎉❤

[@dylantodd9574]

I like that.

[@johnchedsey1306]

I might be a Seattle fan, but I'm 100% down to see Baker lift the Lombardi in a year while the Cleveland Browns go 5-12 with DeShaun Cosby.

[@ademirsegura6307]

That works since Tompa Bay retired for good

[@johnchedsey1306]

The Baker redemption story is a good one. The adversity definitely humbled him in a good way and then he showed he has the inner fortitude to prove he's still a very good player. But I am a bit annoyed my Seahawks aren't the ones who grabbed him when he was available. I think he's better than Geno Smith by far.

[@rungy8214]

Baker finally has a team with one of the best O-Lines in the NFL. Now Tampa needs to get a POWER running back !

[@corypringleton8454]

They definitely don’t have one of the best O-lines in the game, their pass blocking last year was decent but had one of the worst run blocking lines in the league. They have great tackles but the interior of the line is pretty bad. I wouldn’t mind another RB to compliment White.

[@hillbillyhitman8506]

​​@@corypringleton8454have you seen our FA Signings the last 3-4 days? We've Signed 3 veteran Interior O Lineman and 2 veteran CBs.

[@Buc_Stops_Here]

MIke Florio has no idea what happened in Tampa and he states it between 11:00 and 11:20 minutes in this video. He says that Baker took "peanuts" after his great stint in LA and that is not what he expected. Actually, it is what he wanted. He could have got more elsewhere but he told his agent, " I want to sign with Tampa - make it happen." Tampa agreed, with a tiny contract in a cap friendly deal as they had no cap space to sign him after Tom Brady. Baker wanted Tampa because he saw what Tom Brady did there and realized, "they have the people to win with." He took a new offensive coordinator and succeeded. Now he is driven to continue to win so he is taking a little less than he could get elsewhere, but he is getting players to win now.

[@markmaletic]

The reason why they put the salary cap in place was so that no team could buy a super bowl. Imagine one team spending 600 million to buy a super bowl. And the rest of the NFL can only afford 250 million. And the other part of the problem is that if you've got teams that have been unlimited cash flow then all the star players are going to go play there.

[@hillbillyhitman8506]

Money does not buy Championships. MLB has no salary cap and the Yankees consistently have a Top 3 Salary base. The Rays usually have a bottom 2 Salary Base and have been to the Playoffs twice as many times as the Yankees the last 5-8 years.

[@debbiemullen2574]

Hi Chris. I was one of your nurses at SJH when you hurt your spleen. You look exactly the same. God Bless you!

[@jasony8002]

Mayfield is a stud !! Looking forward to the few pieces the Bucs need to put together to be on the same level as the Ravens ☯

[@lafan4801]

Fl has lower taxes…so thats worth something. Love the Apollo beach area. Get that boat ! Kids can go to Disney on the weekend…

[@jmes4852]

I means DW is like 75 mins from tampa.

[@sherylkatz8827]

Baker would have been nuts to leave Tampa. He knows he can succeed there.

[@theshogunblaze3656]

who wants to bet a buccaneers fan says Florio & Simms hate Baker once the season starts and baker has a bad game or 2 ?

[@tjatnb]

YEP!!!

[@currensea9094]

Sounds like you're the emotionally invested one.. Not them. "Hate" is an emotional and strong word.

[@sirbandit170]

In all fairness, these sports journalists seek out sensational takes that swing to one extreme or the other. It's all about buzz. Their feelings are volatile, depending on the current climate.

[@MasonKimbrough14]

Yep

[@WesleyWhittington-wh6oy]

And neither have ever shown Baker anything but love

[@MrSmithgobucs]

baker is back! Go Bucs!

[@lawrencefranck9417]

No state taxes on signing bonus and home games paycheck.

[@Justbkstuff]

Love Mayfield

[@Hammersmithblues]

"Please sir, may I have another stack of thousands?" Florio calling this gruel is pretty funny

[@markmaletic]

Well I think one of the reasons why he stayed in Tampa was because of his wife because of his family. They made Tampa their home. So I do believe he took a little bit of a home team discount. And plus there's no state tax. But I think his wife had a great deal to do with where she wanted to live.

[@jonnyhan]

Florio attacking salary cap is idiotic. That is the sole reason why NFL is so much fun to watch and there is such parity and belief that every team has a chance. Razor thin differential in talent and coaching decides most games.

[@dkenned4]

I took less money at my job for a better situation. Hard to put a price tag on being comfortable and happy

[@louissmith4218]

Love baker field

[@OffensiveFarmer]

The stats at 12:22 are wrong, he wasn't 30th in the NFL in completion percentage he was 19th and for the INT figure it includes a lot of QB's who played a lot less games, a better figure is INT% which he was tied 10th.

[@WesleyWhittington-wh6oy]

I noticed that. I think didn’t just use full time starters for the stats. Lazy work

[@awaysooner]

Tampa Bucs have so many other problems, so it's good to not worry about QB really. Baker wasn't the problem. They'll need to fix the run games, the secondaries, the edge rushing. They were last or close to last in these areas. $33M + 7-10% state tax outside of Texan. It's pretty good deal, and I am sure he'll outplay Cousins if the Oline improve.

[@guycharles8061]

It’s called a salary cap and regardless of how much money an owner has, he/she is only allowed to spend the same amount as the other 32 owners. You can get creative and kick the can down the road but the cap is the cap

[@alex_de_tampa]

Jason Licht is a top GM.

[@rodneyhorsley8601]

FIRE THE CANNONS!

[@dylantodd9574]

But the signing bonus more adversely affects the cap hit instead of putting it into salary.

[@markmaletic]

And he's got a pretty decent record in the playoffs. He's won two games he's lost two games. But in those two losses it could have went the other way and they could have won. And you know there's a lot of quarterbacks out there that give you great season records but when it comes to the playoffs they can't punch their way out of a paper bag. Ann Baker made it a pretty good transition from Tom Brady to himself.

[@blindspott1060]

Buc's got two-for-one...a top NFL QB & their team leader.

[@chriscole4538]

Evans just got a signing bonus when he restructured his new deal

[@gimmedaloot]

Go Bucs

[@troodon3237]

So Florio is against both the salary cap and the draft. I'm curious how he thinks the NFL actually should be run, because I think I would be very much against it.

[@MarioBuc]

No more giving sacrifices on your contract like the Bucs did for Tom Brady, which had an economical effect on the team.

[@stanglassman]

Bucs don’t do signing bonuses? What's this guy talking about? look at the recent extensions for Vita Vea, Chris Godwin, Carlton Davis III, and Jamel Dean and you'll see what I'm talking about. Godwin received an $18.750 million signing bonus, Dean got $11.420 million, Davis was given $10 million, and Vea received a $4,147,145 bonus.

[@petera6984]

Sorry, I thought this was about Baker Mayfield

[@colinogrady7204]

Also no state income tax

[@mykofreder1682]

His ratings are not that great but his passing yards per game career average is at starter level and 30 or 40 yards a game more than the backup crew. He is on the back side of starters and numbers are about the same as Flaco and my expectations are about at Flaco level without a lot of help. Cousins and Tannehill are the same but play it safer and have a better rating and completion percentage, but results are about the same because they are the same guys, the rating and percentage gets you a bigger contract.

[@jrcc7087]

Tom Brady TOO!!! He was just quiet about it. He had that killer quiet instinct. Cocky quietly you know??

[@ronaldbrooks5427]

I don't know why people think Kirk cousins so good cousin ain't going to bust her grapes with a sludge hammer I ain't mad at him they just keep getting his ass money and when you play my Tampa Bay buccaneers we going to beat him up and we going to keep winning division everything go through Tampa Bay GO BUCS 😂👍🏾

[@averybrooks2099]

Cousins blew his ACL and then you compare playoff records in the last 5 years between Baker and Cousins and your eyes will open up a bit more.

[@blindspott1060]

A dilemma for the players, Baker earning $33 mil/yr, while the ave Joe in the stands makes less the $100 K? Who you kidding!

[@pewterpirate4560]

It's better then the Culverhouse Bucs bby! 😂

[@ukprince4544]

Go Bucs and good for baker but this is a ehh 2yr wait and see because 30th in completion percentage won’t do💯

[@scottyjoe22]

Kraft had his psychologists that portray his food as being good to also diabolically convince players to take less money.

[@MrBreakdownBoy]

In a salary cap league, who gets paid what is important. Dynasties are built on team-friendly deals. The Murrey's and Watson's aren't winning anything with those contracts. How much money do you need? Twenty million a year should be enough for you. Taking a $250m contract shows you are either as good as Mahomes or you are not and not interested in winning super bowls.

[@rungy8214]

GREAT point counselor!!! Get the TAX FREE bonus instead of giving paycheck taxes to Tax-a-fornia!

[@davidbellecy1709]

Plus Baker's dad f'ed his investments and Baker needed this pay day.

[@thenoseknows9391]

Please sir, can I have some more 🤣😀😃 that's from the movie starring Joe Montanga 😃😀🤣😁

[@JustineGuzowski]

Browns Screwed themselves choosing an alleged predator instead of Baker & they over payed both $$$ & draft picks for the guy who can't stay on the field. Bad owners always make mistakes.

[@goldenbear8250]

What's up with Baker's hat??? Or should I say, what's upside down???

[@godson5877]

These are probably the only two guys I actually listen too..

[@TheOmengod]

The NFL would be trash without a salary cap. Look at other sports and look at history.

[@chuckchuckerson5364]

We can talk about how these "evil" owners are laughing all the way to the bank, but the salary cap is a good thing. The NFL is the most competitive professional sports league because of the hard cap. All of the guys taking pay cuts are so insanely over paid its crazy, so please, stop crying for these multi millionaires. Honestly, quarterbacks are WAY overpaid, especially mid tier ones. Wide receivers, and edge rushers next. Running backs are the ones getting screwed. Linebackers too.

[@traydevon]

What was Simms so angry about the last few days?

[@gregsutton2400]

umm. when did Florio get so insightful.

[@RedRocket4000]

The owners don't make a profit from the sacrifice of one player to get other better players on the team. The owner is still paying very close to the cap either way. The failure to understand that as long as the team is trying to spend most of it's cap the owners gain nothing is a major failure here. This why Brady was willing to take less because he knew what he did not take would be given to other players to be on the team not the owners. Only time this statement not true is for example bad days for Buccaniers where Owner tried to pay players as a whole as little as possible and always left a lot if not all of the cap unpaind. This is actually the high value players taking from the lower players best shown long ago in early labor negations where top QB formed their own union to insure they got a bigger piece of the pie than other players. Owners might be greedy when not sharing bigger share thus a bigger cap for the players but this all players vs the owners nothing to do with individual contract size. Fix very hard but possible if the high end players get less greedy and agree to share a bit more with the majority of the union. Switch to a share system where total player share is allocated by share each team position receiving a set share. Union fights out with owners what percent of everything goes to players as a whole. Current pay handled by giving current players shares equal to their current share of the total. Then for future each slot on a football team gets X amount of shares this mostly decided by players. Now there is not free agency majority of players who play more than one year stay with the team that takes them originally their whole time in NFL. Amount of what currently is guarantied is decided by the players because money paid to players who cannot play cannot be paid to players replacing that player. Yes Guarantied money comes out of other players pay not out of the owners money any time that Guarantied player is no longer able to play for whatever reason. This is true anytime the Owner trying to spend all the cap. So let the players decide how much of the player share goes to players retirement and to players unable to play vs their replacements.

[@allendenton33]

Mike Florio can be real annoying some days. The salary cap keeps the league even and parody strong. Look at baseball. You just want the dodger and Yankees 90% of the time then great. I love when a team goes worst to first and there’s a ton of new teams in the playoffs every year!

[@OffensiveFarmer]

The salary cap is a big part of why i love the NFL so much, im from the UK where our version of football has been completely ruined by money, the team who has the most wins the most. It kills the competitiveness of sport.

[@Npaccorti]

Florio has to be one of the most delusional people in all of sports media

[@goldenbear8250]

Florio is such a stereotypical liberal: He slams ownership for creating a business model that optimizes their profits while ignoring the fact of his own multi-millionaire life that pays peanuts to his own serfs.

[@PlagueDoctorL]

"it's not fair that someone has more than me."

[@tjatnb]

I hate this show..... They talked per crap about him over the last few years.

[@lordjimbo2]

Jesus, Florio is a hack. Weird how the quarterbacks who take pay cuts wind up in championship games and Super Bowls and are still ungodly wealthy, and the ones who don't are one and done. Yeah, that's a real conspiracy on the part of the owners.

[@Vote_Blue]

pretty soft QB market this off season. Bucs aren't willing to hand the keys of the Ferrari they've built over to some kid fresh out of college.

[@juniormyrie7404]

I love Baker, but I’m I have a real bad feeling about this deal.

[@OffensiveFarmer]

This is the best deal any Bucs fan whos on the fence about Baker could have ever asked for. If Baker ends up not playing great then the Bucs are only locked in for 2 seasons, they can cut him after the 2nd year with only $9m in dead cap going into 2026. This deal is, by far, the most team friendly QB deal in the league, 2nd place is Geno Smiths and then nobody else is even close.

[@mosesmiles6975]

What he know about the Hillsborough River 😂, ain’t nothing in there but catfish

[@user-iq6cc3df3l]

Some wonderful people like Tampa. For example Oba Chandler made it his home. Well, until he got wind the FBI was on his tail, I suppose.

[@user-iq6cc3df3l]

I don’t really see Tampa winning a Super Bowl with Baker although in some ways he might’ve been the best QB available. Russ went to the Steelers only because Russ is cheap, and Cousins went to the Falcons as Atlanta can push the false narrative that “the Falcons are now Super Bowl contenders!” Cousins can’t buy a playoff win although I suppose Atlanta should win a weak division. Then it’s one-and-done as usual for Cousins. (For the record I said the same thing about Dallas and Baltimore in 2023. And I nailed it even though Lamar and Dak apologists were all over me - until AFTER they choked as usual. Expect the same in 2024.)

[@mosinc7388]

As a Bucs fan I would have rather moved on. Maybe given Fields a shot and draft a QB. Ain't winning anything with Baker. Need too many pieces, OL, DL, LB, CB, TE...

[@user-om9bj4rc1g]

He wont win a super bowl with the Bucs

[@mikehouse68]

Mayfield is a JOKE... hahahaha NO Team is gonna Win with him.

[@urusledge]

This comment is the joke. He’s won playoff games in both conferences now. Both for teams with very low expectations to start the year. The Browns were the laughingstock of all of professional sports when he got there. The Bucs, even after he signed, had an over-under of 5-6 games according to most analysts and major sports books. I mean sure he’s not gonna guarantee you a SB appearance, but there’s only one or two guys a decade that can be said to do that. If winning playoff games isn’t good enough to say a team “can win with him” then there’s 4 or less guys in the league who you can say a team “can win with”. Sorry Watson hasn’t worked out.

[@hrebec97]

Thank Jerry Jones for the bean 🫘 counting. The owners love him. They’re billionaires. The players are millionaires but not all of them. All this money talk is boring. The rich are getting richer. Screw the fans. Just bend over and take it. Once the fans wake up and stop paying do the rich wake up. It’s not going to happen. Most people are too ignorant and stupid to make it happen.

[@Steven-yg9zx]

Mr simms you are wrong start when opened your mouth...kirk won nothing ..he had the best receiver top runningback kirk is not better then Baker ...not even close ...bucs will sweep them in regular season .. By the way Mr simms ...you never been a good QB ...below average at best ...I was surprised you had the job after gruden kicked your butt out ...