Many have been surprised by the early success Baker Mayfield has had with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but general manager Jason Licht is one person who saw it coming.
Licht was a guest on the latest episode of Peter Schrager’s “The Season” podcast. During the appearance, he had very high praise for Mayfield and spoke about how smart of a person the former No. 1 overall pick is. Licht also said many people do not realize how well-liked Mayfield is among his teammates.
“I don’t know where this started that (some people thought) he wasn’t a good guy. I think you can point to a few things that maybe people got the wrong impression of him, but he’s a frickin’ awesome dude,” Licht said. “He is a dude, and the players saw it right away, whether he’s taking the linemen to the Bahamas on our break during camp to go golf. He’s spotted around town at dive bars with a position group of receivers with Mike Evans, with (Chris) Godwin, with these guys. It’s not fake. He really knows how to be a dude with the team, and they love it.”
In 2020, the @Buccaneers targeted a new QB in Tom Brady.
In 2023, a new QB targeted THEM.
Bucs GM Jason Licht joined me on “The Season with Peter Schrager” and we discussed the magic of QB 1 @bakermayfield .
Full ep on Spotify here: https://t.co/TyoZsjf5xX pic.twitter.com/PelNwxcbhV
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) October 4, 2023
Mayfield has always had a big personality, which is probably what Licht was referring to when he said people have the wrong impression of the quarterback. Mayfield was an extremely cocky player at Oklahoma, most infamously when he planted a flag on an opponent’s midfield logo. He backed it up, of course, and won a Heisman Trophy.
Mayfield’s NFL career has not gone quite as well as his time at Oklahoma, but he has the Bucs off to a 3-1 start. He has shown through the first month of the season that he is still capable of winning games as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He may have even cracked one of his opponent’s signals. It’s no wonder his teammates are loving him thus far.
