The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely not be using their franchise tag on quarterback Baker Mayfield, according to Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times.

Instead, the Buccaneers will likely be slapping a tag on safety Antoine Winfield Jr., meaning that Mayfield will become an unrestricted free agent next month.

Of course, this does not necessarily signify that Tampa Bay will not be retaining Mayfield. It only means that the Bucs are willing to take their chances on being able to re-sign him in free agency.

That could be a dangerous game, though.

Mayfield will unquestionably become one of the top offensive players available the second he hits the open market, and he will surely earn a rather lucrative contract.

The 28-year-old is coming off of a resurgent 2023-24 campaign in which he threw for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 64.3 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 94.6.

Most importantly, Mayfield led the Buccaneers to an NFC South division title and a blowout win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

This came after a 2022 season in which Mayfield’s career appeared to be on life support, as he split the year between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, totaling 10 touchdowns and eight picks.

Mayfield, who played his collegiate football at the University of Oklahoma, was originally selected by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.

He spent four up-and-down seasons with the Browns before being traded to the Panthers in July 2022.

We’ll see where Baker Mayfield ends up in a few weeks.

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