At this time last year, Baker Mayfield was solidifying himself as the starting quarterback in Carolina while Tom Brady prepared for his third season running the Buccaneers offense.
Things look very different this July. Mayfield washed out with the Panthers and then closed the season in better fashion as a member of the Rams to help position himself for a job in Tampa as the Bucs work to find a replacement for Brady after his retirement.
Mayfield is competing with Kyle Trask for that job and he said on Thursday that he believes “the franchise will go as the QB room does.” Outside opinions of Tampa’s room haven’t been glowing, but Mayfield said that he isn’t letting that impact him as he prepares for the 2023 season.
“I don’t need anyone on the outside to tell me what I can or can’t do,” Mayfield said, via the team’s website. “I know what I am capable of. Yeah, I mean I got hurt in Cleveland. That is why my run ended there. Then last year, it was what it was in Carolina. Everything happens for a reason. I am here now, and I am ready to go. This team, you talk about skeptics and what the narrative is around this team, I think it speaks to our veterans and the people that were a part of the run to the Super Bowl and the success that they have had recently, more so than me. I will always have a chip on my shoulder. That is how I approach every day, but it is good to be around a room and a group who has had that success and continues to have that mentality as well. It is a good fit, but we are going to write our own story. You cannot carry on anything from the past years. You might internalize and think about it, but nothing translates to the next year.”
Mayfield used up a lot of chances while moving through three teams in the last two seasons, so there may not be many more opportunities for a lasting run as a starter beyond this summer. The coming weeks will show how much he’ll be able to make of it.
