Bucs QB Baker Mayfield Talks Contract, Browns Revenge & More I Full Interview I The Rich Eisen Show

Baker Mayfield joined the show from home with the kids asleep in the next room, which briefly made Rich lower his voice before Mayfield waved him off. "It's 2026. We're good."

He had just finished the last practice of the preseason with a weekend off before the real thing, and possibly a bonus session waiting. "Extra labor on Labor Day."

Asked for his mindset entering a ninth NFL season, Mayfield answered with something closer to relief than swagger. Last year's finish was "not what we wanted by any means." What he likes now is the inventory: pieces back, players healthy, additions across offense, defense and special teams.

What he described after that is the version of himself that has taken nine years to build. "Taking it one game at a time, and not getting too high, not getting too low." He does not think the ceiling is the problem. "We have a really good roster, a great group of guys, a great staff that can take us all the way."

On the receivers he is counting on, he started with the one who has spent the most time getting back. "Chris Godwin is back to his purest form. He looks unbelievable." Mayfield was clear about what that cost, noting Godwin took a long time to reach that point, and how much it matters that he feels this good.

From there he ran the room. Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan are back on the field, two contributors he expects to help immediately. Tez Johnson got thrown into the fire as a rookie and flew under the radar doing it, and Mayfield is looking for a jump. And the newest addition, a receiver with a 6'4" frame, has been making plays through camp.

His one condition applies to none of them. "As long as our guys up front stay healthy, we should be pretty good."

Then the harder subject, which is that Mike Evans is not there. Mayfield did not pretend that is a solvable problem. "As cliche as it sounds, you can't replace Mike Evans. First ballot Hall of Famer in my eyes. Nobody can ever really replace Mike."

What he offered instead is a structural argument. If you have to lose a player of that caliber, receiver is the position where a roster can absorb it. "That receiver room is kind of made for it, with the depth that we have and the guys that have a lot of experience." The plan is committee rather than replacement.

He also made a point about Godwin that gets lost behind Evans. Godwin is entering year 10 and sits second on the Buccaneers' all-time receiving records, behind only Evans. "It's not like he hasn't been consistent for all those years."

Rich then played him a clip from general manager Jason Licht's press conference, in which Licht offered one of the more backhanded compliments of the summer. "We love Baker. There's nothing fake about Baker. Sometimes I wish there was maybe 10% more fake, but he's certainly motivated, and we love that."

Mayfield laughed and confirmed it. "I've just always been that way. You'll probably know exactly what I'm thinking or how I feel about you within the first couple of minutes of meeting you, and that's okay."

The contract question was the reason Rich had asked about his mindset in the first place, and Mayfield handled it by talking about somebody else's deal. Vita Vea got done, which Mayfield called a big deal for reasons that have nothing to do with the money. "He's the anchor for the defense, and somebody that takes a ton of double teams and lets the other guys play free."

On his own situation, he turned it into a locker room message rather than a grievance. "I can use that as galvanizing the troops and rallying everybody behind that. Listen, it doesn't matter what's going on. We're still going to play hard for each other."

His separation between the two worlds was clean. "Stuff can be handled outside of the football field, and that's the business aspect of it. But when it comes to ball, it's just us in between those lines. Let's go make it happen."

Asked how he is different from nine years ago, Mayfield did not reach for a comfortable answer. The heart is still on the sleeve. What changed is the gap before he acts. "There's definitely a lot more thinking before speaking, or some actions."

He was direct about why. "A lot of dumb mistakes been from the past." He does not relitigate them and he does not excuse them. "There's things that I wish I could change, but I can't. So all I can do is learn and grow from those things, and spread that knowledge and try and help out the guys that come in the building."

The football version of the same question got a more physical answer, and a funnier one. Mayfield says old tape is hard to watch. "It's frustrating to even see clips from even like three years ago."

What has changed is speed, or rather the absence of it. The more coverages and pressures he has seen, the more the checks and protections live in the holster ready to be communicated. "The more reps you get, the slower the game feels." His summary of what that buys him is the whole job in one line. "As long as you play on time and in rhythm, let the physical abilities take over."

There was also official Sonic business, and Mayfield takes it seriously. The seven dollar big deal meal gets you a burger, fries or tots, a drink and a sundae, and Mayfield attached a moral condition to it. "I will judge you if you don't order tots."

Pressed on why tots are a window into a person, he laid out the canonical order. "You get the crushed ice, the nugget ice. That's the classic. It's tots, it's crushed ice, you get the big deal meal. There's only one way to do it." The sundae is exempt from judgment. "That's just the extra cherry on top, man. You deserve it."

His wife Emily appears in the campaign, which Rich assumed required negotiation. Mayfield's method was simpler. "I just kept ordering Sonic till she agreed."

A passing mention of Bijan Robinson steered toward Texas, and Mayfield shut that down immediately. "We don't have to talk about the Longhorns. This is a happy talking point."

The happier talking point is Week 2, when Cleveland comes to Tampa for the home opener. Rich, aware of Mayfield's history with flag planting on Ohio teams, floated the possibility of sending the Browns to 0 and 2 while their quarterback situation is being debated.

Mayfield declined the framing and gave a better answer. "It's just about winning. I could care less about what's going on quarterback situation in their building. It's just about beating them, and letting them know that I found a home."

Before he left, he had his own Week 2 to raise. Oklahoma is coming to the Big House. Rich asked whether Michigan would have its best defensive player available this time, or whether he would again be ejected for targeting the week before.

Mayfield's response settled the wager instantly. "We didn't pay our quarterback 10 million, so whatever you want to do."

The stakes were agreed on the spot. A big deal meal, with the tots ordered in advance.