Tampa Bay Buccaneers make a tough decision about Baker Mayfield

TheTampa Bay Buccaneers have already taken care of their first order of business. They secured Mike Evans, arguably the greatest wide receiver in franchise history, for at least an extra couple of years.

However, all great wideouts need someone who can throw them the football. The Bucs hope Baker Mayfield will be that someone, but it seems like there’s an NFL-wide interest in his services.

Considering that, the Bucs won’t have it as easy as they thought when it comes to bringing him back. According to GM Jason Licht, they will have to allow him to test the open market.

Bucs Will Allow Baker Mayfield To Test Out Free Agency

“A lot of [the team’s pending free agents] know what the market is at this point,” Licht told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I think the start of the negotiation period is really almost the same as the start of free agency, because they’re already talking and negotiating.”

Baker Mayfield, quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The executive explained that both parties have been unable to reach an agreement right now. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to reach one in free agency:

“So, as we get to Monday, any of our players that aren’t signed, it doesn’t mean they’re not coming back. It just means that maybe we’ve got an agreement that, hey, they’ll see what [their] worth [is]. We have a disagreement right now, and then let’s just try to work it out. We don’t want the player to be unhappy, either,” the executive said.

see also

NFL News: Mike Evans sends message to the Buccanneers about Baker Mayfield"s return

Multiple teams are keeping tabs on the former No. 1 pick. Even so, he might still choose to get back to Tampa, where he had arguably the best season of his career, and where he could most likely get the most money in his next contract.