Tampa Bay’s latest addition spoke to the media Monday.
The Tampa Bay Bucs newest quarterback was at the podium Monday for his introductory press conference. Baker Mayfield will now be a part of his fourth NFL team in the last calendar year, but that hasn’t stopped him from looking ahead to the new offense he will be looking to helm in 2023.
The veteran signal caller will be spending this offseason learning yet another playbook. What the new Bucs offensive system will look remains to be seen. However, Mayfield — who has had just brief conversations with new offensive coordinator Dave Canales — has a good sense of what the offense will be like and he’s looking forward to it.
“In my short term of knowing Dave so far, just realizing who he is, how he’s going to tailor the offense to his playmakers – to me, that speaks volumes,” said Mayfield. “You find a lot of guys that want to just run their system without really trying to play to the attributes of their players and that’s not Dave. I’m excited about it – he’s eager to see how his philosophy is going to affect the guys around here and that’s the best part about it. This is the time for growth and to learn what type of team you’re going to be – then when you put the pads on, it really comes to fruition. I’m excited and he’s open-minded as well.”
There is good reason for Mayfield to be excited. The Bucs have a couple of playmakers in wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, which are two names Canales will undoubtedly tailor the offense to as Mayfield points out.
And the 27-year-old is looking forward to playing with the Bucs playmakers.
“Any time you get to play with playmakers like that, it obviously makes your job easier,” Mayfield said of Evans and Godwin. “They’re so experienced and they’ve seen a lot as well so I’m excited to get the opportunity to get to play with them and Russell [Gage Jr.] as well – obviously him sticking around was a big decision for him. I’m eager to get to know those guys and work together.”
Mayfield hasn’t been handed the starting job. He’ll have to compete against Kyle Trask for Bucs starting quarterback role. But for now, he’ll have to work out extensively in hopes that he’ll beat out Trask and showcase his chemistry with Tampa Bay’s playmakers.