The “Pay Baker” chants go beyond Gerald McCoy’s house.

Former Bucs QB Chris Simms, the NBC Sports Xs and Os guru, also is all about extending Mayfield’s contract. Mayfield’s three-year Bucs deal expires after the 2026 season.

Simms made quite a case for Mayfield this morning on PFT Live. 

“I kind of look and go, ‘Man, there’s not too many of them out there. And you’ve got one in Tampa Bay. You got one,” Simms said of Mayfield being a tough and talented quarterback. “You got a guy that’s a leader, he can make big plays, he’s got a great arm. And there’s just very few [quarterbacks] that you can say, ‘Hey, we got it.’

Simms also talked about Mayfield’s toughness, injuries and the entire Bucs team’s rash of injuries last season.

“I would think they’re going to find the sweet spot [for a contract extension] here,” Simms said. “It’s just about what is that number — what makes sense for where Baker Mayfield is in his career.

“He’s a damn good player. He gives your team an edge. He gives your team an, ‘oooh, the Bucs are on. It’s Baker? Let me watch them.’ Because Baker’s going to go for it. He doesn’t play the politics of the sport. He goes for it. He is trying to win. He’s trying to throw lasers. And he’s one of the more explosive quarterbacks in football in the pocket because of his frame of mind and his big right arm.

“You know me. I love the Bucs and I’m hoping the Glazers and [Bucs GM] Jason Licht reward him.”

For those who don’t think Simms has a good feel for the Bucs. In addition to chatting with Joe at the Phoenix airport last Tuesday (Simms was dealing with a delayed flight and Joe was at the airport early to battle security lines.) Simms was a gameday guest in the Team Glazer suite during the Bucs’ epic meltdown against the Falcons on Thursday Night Football in December.

And Simms shared with PFT listeners a rare glimpse into the world of Team Glazer from that night.

“Listen, you know I was there, I was in the owners box,” Simms said. “All I can tell you is that the Glazer family was intent on, ‘Wait, let’s go watch the big screen TV in our box here and let’s watch the postgame press conferences.’ And I didn’t sit there and watch with them because I was like, ‘That seems like it’s a family business meeting over there.’ I’m going to say goodbye and blah, blah, blah. But they were, yeah, obviously extremely tuned in at the time and worried about kind of where the organization was going at that point in the season and why the play wasn’t as good.”

Imagine that. Team Glazer — known for greeting players and coaches in the locker room after a win — passed on leaving their seats after a tough loss to gather, wait and watch how Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield would react to a choke job when they could have watched it on YouTube later.

And that’s when Bowles stepped out of character and unleashed his infamous, profanity-laced tirade.

Then Team Glazer watched the Bucs, on 10 days rest following the Atlanta loss, dominate time of possession at Carolina but lose while their offense imploded in the fourth quarter. And then the Bucs limped through a loss at tanking Miami a week later.

Man, these Glazers are patient folks.

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