‘I Was Fired Up About It’ — NFL HC Reveals Baker Mayfield Nearly Signed With AFC Super Bowl Contender Before Buccaneers
‘I Was Fired Up About It’ — NFL HC Reveals Baker Mayfield Nearly Signed With AFC Super Bowl Contender Before Buccaneers
Priyanshu Choudhary Wed, September 16, 2026 at 6:07 PM UTC
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Sep 13, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) warms up at Paycor Stadium. © Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The career renaissance of Baker Mayfield has been something to behold. After a stellar start to his career with the Cleveland Browns, he was written off after a down year. Bouncing around the NFL, it took him a while to find stability again.
However, his trajectory could have turned out very differently. Before he took over from Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there was an AFC contender that had interest in the former first overall pick.
Baker Mayfield Could Have Never Had His Renaissance
Since coming to the Buccaneers, Mayfield has been among the most consistent quarterbacks in the entire league. Finishing at number 17 on PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metrics, he rose as high as number 4 in 2024.
As a result, the team chose to give him a three-year, $165 million contract extension this summer. But back in the 2023 offseason, rather than the Buccaneers, he almost signed with the Baltimore Ravens in a backup capacity.
Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken, who was the offensive coordinator on the Ravens at the time, made the revelation this week, as his team gets set to take on Mayfield and the Buccaneers in Week 2.
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“We thought he was coming there as our backup,” he revealed in a conversation with Andrew Siciliano, before adding, “We thought after Carolina and the Rams, he was coming to Baltimore. And I was fired up about it.”
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At the time, there were a ton of injury concerns about Lamar Jackson, so the Ravens wanted a backup with higher upside. Since then, though, the dynamic dual-threat quarterback has added another MVP and an AFC Championship Game appearance to his resume.
Mayfield, after a disastrous end to his tenure with the Browns, spent some time with the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams. After a strong showing as their backup, he impressed the Buccaneers enough to take a swing at him.
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Thankfully, the potential pathway for the Ravens did not come to pass. For both the quarterback and the franchise, the current situation has worked out pretty well.
Leading the Buccaneers to consecutive playoff appearances, he continued the upswing of the franchise that first began when Brady joined them in 2020. Last year was a disappointment on that end, as they just missed out on a postseason berth.
However, with a massive new contract under his belt, the expectation has to be that he can lead them back once again.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
Source: “AOL Sports”
