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Baker Mayfield was not supposed to be as successful in the 2023 season as he has become.
When the 2018 first-overall pick arrived at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason, he was dismissed as a perennial underachiever who had to deal with being in Tom Brady's shadow and a one-year placeholder. All of this, while general manager Jason Licht awaited the next prodigy who would help the franchise return to elite levels.
Then the Buccaneers won the NFC South with a 9-8 record, an improvement from 2022-23. On Monday, they routed the defending NFC champions, Philadelphia Eagles, 32-9, in the Wild Card Round. In the process, Tampa Bay also ended legendary center Jason Kelce's 13-year career.
Baker Mayfield was exceptional as he threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns. In the aftermath of the game, his wife Emily Wilkinson shared a story on her Instagram account, writing:
"This smile is everything. So much adversity So many naysayers. People wanting him to fail. He hasn't stopped working, he never stopped believing... I am so proud of him. On to the next one, Buccaneers (heart and Jolly Roger emojis)."
Baker Mayfield cashes in on Wild Card win, but could he be out of Tampa Bay for Russell Wilson?
When Baker Mayfield signed his one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it contained a clause that guaranteed him, among other incentives, $250,000 for every playoff game he played in and won. He has fulfilled that; but should the team somehow win the Super Bowl, that incentive will max out to $1 million, making it quite possibly the greatest bargain deal in recent NFL history.
But what if even that is not enough to convince Jason Licht to keep him around in the long term? ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently opined that if extension talks with Mayfield collapse, the Buccaneers may make a maneuver for Russell Wilson, who is expected to be released by the Denver Broncos after their massive 2022 trade for him failed to meet lofty expectations over two seasons.
A move to southwest Florida will reunite Wilson with current offensive coordinator Dave Canales, who mentored him at the Seattle Seahawks for a decade. The two appeared in two consecutive Super Bowls during their time together, winning XLVIII in 2013-14.
