After setting the start of training camp as a hard deadline to get a new deal done, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke their own rules on Tuesday. The two sides agreed to a massive three-year, $165 million extension, the largest in the franchise's history.
And I know what you're thinking: what on earth does this have to do with the Las Vegas Raiders? The Silver and Black already have a solid enough current starter in Kirk Cousins, and the future of the franchise is already in the building in the form of Fernando Mendoza.
Some may think that there is a John Spytek thread here, considering he cut his teeth with the Bucs as an executive before coming to Sin City. Perhaps this has something to do with Tom Brady, who won a Super Bowl there. But that's not the story here.
The story here is that the Raiders, in many ways, are responsible for Baker Mayfield's revival. They set this contract in motion years ago, and two key penalties were truly the difference. Don't believe me? Let's take a trip back in time to SoFi Stadium on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
I'll prove it.
The story of how the Raiders and Jerry Tillery contributed to Baker Mayfield's mega extension
With Matthew Stafford sidelined, the Rams claimed a recently discarded Mayfield on waivers from the Carolina Panthers just two days before they took on Las Vegas in a Thursday Night Football game. It was a lost season for both teams; a true snoozer of a primetime contest.
But this is when Mayfield got his mojo back.
Once the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, the Cleveland Browns infamously gave up on Mayfield to trade for Deshaun Watson and give him a record-breaking, league-altering contract that has not aged well. Mayfield didn't fare much better in Carolina, and his NFL career was on the ropes after getting waived.
Los Angeles threw him a bone, though, and with barely 48 hours to prepare, they made him the backup for the contest against the Raiders. And after just one series of John Wolford under center, Rams head coach Sean McVay had seen enough, and he put Mayfield into the game.
As they say, the rest is history.
Looking at the box score, Mayfield didn't do anything too special. He completed 22 of his 35 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, ran four times for 10 yards, and was sacked four times. It was a good but not great showing. But as fans know, Mayfield's stats only tell part of the story from that night.
Las Vegas took a 16-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, and the Rams looked dead in the water, as did Mayfield's career. But he was able to rally the troops enough to make it competitive, leading Los Angeles on a touchdown drive to make it 16-10 with just 3:19 on the clock.
In typical Raiders fashion, they failed to get a first down and run the clock out, so the ball was going back to Mayfield and the Rams. Thankfully, a booming A.J. Cole punt pinned Los Angeles deep in its own territory on the 2-yard line with only 1:45 left in the game and the Rams having no timeouts.
To win, it would take a 98-yard miracle.
And Mayfield performed one.
With the help of two key penalties, of course.
On the third play of the drive, Mayfield made an ill-advised throw, and Raiders safety Duron Harmon picked it off. Game over. Except cornerback Amik Robertson was flagged for pass interference, so Mayfield and Los Angeles got the ball back, a fresh set of downs, and a new lease on life.
Thankfully, on the very next play, Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones put the Rams on the ropes once again by sacking Mayfield for a nine-yard loss. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play by Jerry Tillery, though, turned a 2nd-and-19 on their own 13-yard line into a 1st-and-10 on their 28.
Mayfield came back the next play with moxie and found Ben Skowronek for 32 yards up the sideline. He completed his next two passes before spiking the ball with 16 seconds left. Then, he hit Van Jefferson for a 23-yard touchdown with only 10 seconds left to take the lead and stun the Raiders.
The Rams won 17-16.
Something changed in Mayfield that night. He got his swagger back after a rough few years with the Browns and Panthers, and on Netflix's Quarterbacks, Mayfield talked at length about how that game truly changed the trajectory of his career and his life.
Of course, he parlayed that strong outing into the Rams' starting role for the rest of the year, and eventually, into a prove-it deal with Tampa Bay the following offseason: a one-year, $4 million contract for the 2023 NFL season.
After proving himself, he inked a three-year, $100 million contract with the Buccaneers the next spring. And with a few very good years under his belt now, Mayfield is a $55 million-per-year quarterback. It all started during that Thursday Night Football win over Las Vegas.
Had Mayfield and the Rams not won that game, in large part due to the opportunities and second chances that those two key penalties afforded them, we probably wouldn't be talking about Mayfield as the record-setting contract-getter that he is now in Tampa Bay.
But the butterfly effect is very real in the NFL and in life. Without those two penalties, maybe Mayfield never has a football revival, and he's just another No. 1 pick quarterback bust. Perhaps the course of the Bucs' history changes and Spytek never becomes the general manager in Las Vegas.
Who knows?
What I can say is this: Almost every time I think of Mayfield, I think of that game and that 98-yard drive in the two-minute drill with no timeouts and those two penalties. So, when he finally signed his big extension, I couldn't help but think about the Raiders' role in helping him do so.
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