The legal tampering period starts at noon today, but one of the Falcons free agent quarterback targets is already off the market.
On Sunday, Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers agreed to a three-year, $100 million deal with $50 million guaranteed to keep the former No. 1 overall pick in Tampa Bay. There’s also $5 million per year in incentives, bringing up the maximum value of the contract to $115 million.
Dianna Russini reported after the signing was announced that the Falcons were keeping an eye on Mayfield, seemingly as a backup plan to Kirk Cousins, which we already knew.
The Vikings and Falcons were keeping an eye on Baker Mayfield's landing spot. Minnesota continues to try to keep Kirk Cousins a Viking, while the Falcons have numerous options at QB they are exploring, Cousins one of them.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 10, 2024
Mayfield signed a one-year, prove-it deal with the Bucs last year, succeeding the greatest of all time in Tom Brady. All he did was turn in a career year.
Mayfield’s 28 touchdowns ranked seventh in the league and were a career-best for him. His 4,044 passing yards ranked ninth and were the most in a single season in his career and the same goes for his 64.3 completion percentage.
The Bucs ended up winning the NFC South, in part, behind Baker Mayfield’s impressive performance against the Falcons in Week 14, in which he orchestrated a comeback victory, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left.
In the Wild Card, the Oklahoma product threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-9 rout of the Eagles. Though Tampa ended up losing the following week in the divisional round, Mayfield still threw for 349 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the 31-23 defeat to the Lions.
Now, it seems the Falcons will be primed to sprint out of the gate today at noon to recruit Kirk Cousins away from Minnesota. If Cousins doesn’t come to Atlanta, Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris will have to turn their attention to Justin Fields, another veteran free agent, or the draft because Russell Wilson is also off the market.
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Photographer: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire
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