![\"Todd](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1880839284-e1775516977145.jpg\")
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield. <\/p>\n
When it comes to finding motivation anywhere you can, if you\u2019re Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> head coach Todd Bowles, you probably have to like what happened this offseason between quarterback Baker Mayfield<\/a> and new Atlanta Falcons<\/a> head coach Kevin Stefanski.<\/p>\n Stefanski took shots at Mayfield, who was 1 of his starting quarterbacks on the Cleveland Browns<\/a>. Mayfield fired back<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a season where the NFC South Division seems up for grabs between all 4 teams, it adds an incredible amount of drama to the 2 games the teams will play in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bowles, for all of the criticism he\u2019s endured, took a pretty cool approach to it \u2014 basically saying he\u2019s ready for a knock-down, drag-out battle when they play, then adding some lip service about him having Mayfield\u2019s back, which no one really believes<\/a> but is nice for him to say.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2026 It\u2019s something that they have to figure out since we can\u2019t have a boxing match where they get in the ring with each other & knock each other out,\u201d Bowles said in an interview with NFL insider Josina Anderson<\/a> on Monday.\u00a0\u201cYou know we\u2019re going to back our guy Baker \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n Todd Bowles Somehow Kept Job After 2025<\/p>\n Mayfield and Bowles need to be on the same page in 2026 because their NFL futures are both on the line.<\/p>\n Bowles somehow kept his job<\/a> after doing a miserable job coaching the Buccaneers in 2025 as they not only went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019, but looked generally lost and undisciplined<\/a> throughout the season.<\/p>\n If the Buccaneers\u2019 2025 season is to be remembered for 1 thing, it\u2019s probably Bowles\u2019 bizarre, expletive-filled rant following a 29-28 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14, in which Tampa Bay blew a 14-point lead in the 2nd half.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t make excuses,\u201d Bowles said in his postgame press conference. \u201cYou got to f\u2014ing care enough where the s\u2014 hurts. It\u2019s got to f\u2014ing mean something to you. It\u2019s more than a job. It\u2019s your f\u2014ing livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can\u2019t sugarcoat that s\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n Baker Mayfield Playing for Massive New Contract<\/p>\n No single quarterback in the NFL can say they\u2019ll be under more pressure than Mayfield in 2026, when he\u2019ll be in the final season of the 3-year, $100 million contract he signed before the 2024 season.<\/p>\n Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht addressed his quarterback\u2019s future on the 1st day of the annual\u00a0NFL<\/a> owners meetings on March 30 in Phoenix, telling AP NFL Reporter Rob Maadi<\/a>\u00a0he wants Mayfield with the Buccaneers for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n \u201cBaker is a true pro,\u201d Licht said. \u201cHe\u2019s a leader for this team. We love Baker. Baker is still our quarterback. He\u2019s one of the toughest guys on the team. He\u2019s a great leader. Everything kind of revolves around the quarterback spot. At some point, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll figure something out. There\u2019s no timetable on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Were the Buccaneers to make the playoffs somehow, you can almost guarantee Mayfield is in line for a contract<\/a> that could be worth anywhere from $50 million to $60 million per year.<\/p>\n Should Mayfield and the Buccaneers miss the playoffs, he\u2019s likely looking at a 1-year, prove-it contract as a starter for another NFL team that could be worth somewhere in the range of the $30 million-plus he\u2019s making this season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Buccaneers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield. When it comes to finding motivation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-857876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116360677164653063","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}