Joe would bet a lot of money if Pro Bowl quarterback Baker Mayfield returns for the 2024 season.
But what will the Bucs pay him if he isn’t given the franchise tag?
Joel Corry, a former NFL agent and current CBS commentator, shared his thoughts on WDAE Radio today. Corry stated that what should be a good fit for all sides is somewhere between Geno Smith money ($25 million per year) and overpaid Danel Jones money ($40 million), with the middle ground being roughly what the nasty Saints paid their quarterback last offseason.
“To me, this is a compromise bargain. Corry described it as a deal similar to Derek Carr’s. “Derek Carr earns $37.5 million per year on paper, but the agreement structure is deceiving. There is $50 million in the deal’s final year. At the most, it will cost $100 million over three years. The first two years will be funded with $60 million in cash. It is arranged so that he has a low cap number in the first year, at $7.2 million, due to his $28.25 million signing bonus.
“If you can get Baker to buy off on a team-friendly structure with a cosmetically-inflated average, which would really be in the low 30s, that would be a compromise.”
Joe is in agreement with Corry. Why, at 28 years old, wouldn’t Mayfield be looking for a deal fit for a top NFL starter in his prime?
The franchise tag for a quarterback is expected to be $35 million for the 2024 season, which likely indicates the Mayfield ballpark.
As Corry mentioned, the 32-year-old Carr is looking at over $100 million over three years, and he just led New Orleans to a 9-8 record, much like Mayfield. And Joe assumes that almost everyone in Tampa understands Mayfield is better and younger than Carr.
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