Baker Mayfield gets praised by fans after leading Buccaneers to NFC South division title

Baker Mayfield gets praised by fans after leading Buccaneers to NFC South division title - “He looks better than Tom Brady”

By Henrique Bulio

Modified Jan 07, 2024 23:17 GMT

Baker Mayfield has earned huge praise following the Buccaneers' NFC South title

Baker Mayfield has completed the regular season in a magic way. Even though it wasn't one of his greatest games, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers 9-0 and officially clinched the NFC South title in the first year following Tom Brady's retirement.

Mayfield was signed as a free agent in March after a stint with the Los Angeles Rams, and he looked like a capable quarterback for most of the season, alternating good with bad moments but largely making enough to take the Buccaneers where they wanted to be. He got himself a playoff spot, and probably, a nice contract for the upcoming seasons.

NFL fans were happy to see the quarterback getting to the playoffs after signing just a one-year deal in March, with some comparing Mayfield to Tom Brady's 2022 performance and saying that he actually surpassed the former quarterback:

Baker Mayfield's career

Usually, when a team selects a quarterback with the first overall pick, it hopes he can be there for a while. That didn't work for Mayfield, who played for a bunch of teams in the league and now is part of the Buccaneers in their post-Tom Brady era.

It became another chance for Baker Mayfield to rebuild his career. The former first-overall pick had previous stints with the Cleveland Browns, the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams, each with different degrees of success. Mayfield signed a one-year deal worth $4 million with another $4.25 million available in incentives. This is far from what he expected to earn after his rookie deal, but that's life in the NFL.

Who will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play in the playoffs?

As the number #4 seed, they'll face the #5 at home, which means that Baker Mayfield and his teammates will open the season against the Philadelphia Eagles.

One can argue that the Buccaneers have not been strong, but if they look at the Eagles' record, they could feel confident about the first game. Philadelphia has lost five of the final six games of the regular season and squandered a chance of taking the #1 seed, instead not even winning the NFC East.

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

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