00:00You know, one of the teams that I thought was going to really make some noise this offseason was the
00:04Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
00:06The Bucs a year ago did not have a good finish to their season.
00:09They got out to a 6-2 start, and really, you thought you were going to see some great things
00:14with that football team a year ago.
00:15But what happened?
00:17They ended up fading due to injuries and due to the play of Baker Mayfield.
00:21Make no mistake about it, they end up going into the offseason, and one of the most catastrophic things happened
00:27to them.
00:27They lost their leader in Mike Evans.
00:29He leaves, and he ends up going to San Francisco, and they're leaderless.
00:34Jason Light had quite a rebuilding job this offseason to try to put that football team back into a position
00:40of being a Super Bowl contender.
00:43Then they got into a contract conversation with Vita Veya.
00:47Look, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not going anywhere with that defense, and Vita Veya, that horse, is not in
00:54the middle of that football field.
00:55There is no way.
00:57He is arguably the second-best defensive player that they have had in the last 25 years next to Warren
01:04Sapp.
01:05No question about it.
01:06That guy is a stopping block, and that guy is a road grader.
01:12They end up coming to terms with him on a one-year deal for the 32-year-old player, and
01:17they're going to have him until the year 2030.
01:19That is an enormous move for them.
01:22Now, one of the other storylines with the Buccaneers has to be the direction of where the franchise is going
01:29with Baker Mayfield.
01:31Look, Baker Mayfield, no question, wanted a contract, and he wanted to make sure that his future was secure in
01:38Tampa.
01:38He wants to stay in Tampa.
01:39He wanted a three-year contract in the mid $55 million, $60 million range.
01:47Look at the market prices right now.
01:49Obviously, with Patrick Mahomes getting $63 million, his representatives wanted to be in the middle in their rounds, $55 million.
01:57Buccaneers came back.
01:58Jason Light, the general manager, and offered a two-year $50 million deal, which Baker rejected with his team.
02:05You know, I got to hand it to the Bucs here.
02:07I think they're doing the right thing.
02:10A motivated Baker Mayfield is a better Mayfield.
02:14Mayfield loves to gamble on himself.
02:17Mayfield is a player that has done this in the past.
02:19He did it at Texas Tech when he was a walk-on, and he did it at Oklahoma when he
02:24was a walk-on there.
02:25What the result was, he would go on and win the Heisman Trophy and be the number one overall player
02:31taken by the Cleveland Browns.
02:33I like the fact, remember something, too, with the Bucs.
02:35They have control of the player that can franchise tag him for the next two years at around $50 million,
02:42where I think they want to pay him.
02:44And quite frankly, I'm not in agreement with management a lot of the time, but I got to hand it
02:50to them.
02:50I think they're right here.
02:51A 31-, 32-year-old quarterback, are you really going to invest $60 million annually in a player that runs
02:58in the walls and really doesn't play with great caution out there?
03:03Mayfield's got to learn how to protect himself.
03:05There's so many quarterbacks that Tom Brady points out.
03:08One of the things they don't do in today's game is protect yourself.
03:11I think the Bucs are right here in how they've handled both Vita Vea, an aging defensive tackle, and also
03:19how they're handling Baker Mayfield.
03:21I want a motivated Mayfield.
03:23I think Mayfield's better when he's motivated, and this should result in a really good season for the Tampa Bay
03:29Buccaneers.
03:30Look, that NFC South is wide open.
03:32Carolina is not a world beater.
03:34The Saints, a lot of people like what they're doing there with Kellen Moore.
03:37But at the end of the day, folks, I think the Bucs are in a prime position to get that
03:43NFC South title and move on into the playoffs.
03:46And let's see what happens if you have a motivated Baker Mayfield.
03:50A beautiful jogo.
03:50A beautiful game.
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