Why Baker Mayfield, the quarterback for the Buccaneers, felt like “dirty laundry”

In a recent interview with 102.5 The Bone’s “The Mike Calta Show,” quarterback Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Bucs talked about getting cut by the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers in 2022 once more.

Regarding his time in Tampa Bay, Mayfield remarked, “I’ll tell you that you’re having a lot more fun when you’re not getting shipped off to different places like a piece of dirty laundry,” according to the JoeBucsFan website. “So when I got embraced in Tampa, it made a world of difference.”

The Browns made Mayfield the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft but controversially replaced him with former Houston Texans starter Deshaun Watson in March 2022. Cleveland traded Mayfield to Carolina several months later, but he and the Panthers agreed to part ways in December 2022.

Following a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield inked a one-year “prove it” contract with the Buccaneers in March 2023. He ultimately became a Comeback Player of the Year Award finalist last season and then guided Tampa Bay to a home playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. In March, Mayfield passed on testing free agency and instead signed a new three-year deal to stay with the Bucs.

“I’ve always played ball to enjoy it,” Mayfield continued. “I mean, it is a game. Yes, it is my job, but I love it so much. So I’ve always worn my emotions on my sleeve and so, let people embrace that. And that’s why I’m so excited for having more years to come in Tampa for people to just get to know me a little bit better, truly realize that’s not just a show on the field. That’s who I am when it comes to the football aspect.”

It was Mayfield who declared he would “do anything for our team, and our locker room guys know that.” Over the previous 16 months or so, teammates have frequently complimented Mayfield for his leadership and “contagious” abilities, and it appears that he has found a genuine home with the fourth club of his NFL career.

Having said that, he could need to improve on his season-ending efforts if he wants to hold the top spot on Tampa Bay’s depth chart into the summer of 2019.