There is certainly mutual interest between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield, and it looks like the two sides are already making progress toward a long-term agreement.

According to Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers and Mayfield have already begun contract negotiations. Stroud adds that general manager Jason Licht is expected to meet with Tom Mills, Mayfield’s agent, at the Scouting Combine next week.

Mayfield is currently slated to hit free agency next month, but if Tampa Bay can strike a pact with Mayfield, he won’t even get the chance to test the open market.

The Bucs’ urgency to try and re-sign Mayfield does not come as too much of a surprise.

Mayfield inked a one-year, show-me type of deal with the Buccaneers last offseason and proceeded to enjoy the best season of his career, throwing 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 Tampa Bay to an NFC South division title and a Wild Card Round playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

All of that came after the 28-year-old’s career appeared to be on life support in 2022, when he split the campaign between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams and totaled 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 the first four years of his career with the Browns, producing mixed results.

But now, Baker Mayfield appears to have found a home in Tampa, and it would absolutely not be surprising to see the two parties come to terms on a new deal soon.

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