Bucs OC Dave Canales and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR “It all just kind of depends,” Mayfield told NFL Network’s Cam Wolfe Thursday at the Pro Bowl Games. “Obviously Tampa, we’re going though a little bit of a OC search right now. It’ll start there. They were the first ones that gave me a chance, and (I’m) thankful for them. We’ll see. Taking it one day at a time.” Right after the Bucs lost to the Lions in the NFC Divisional Round, Baker Mayfield stated his desire to return to play in red, white and pewter again next year. Of course, he also said that he wants longtime Bucs legend Mike Evans back with him too after the two established such a strong connection this past season. Mayfield said Thursday that his agent and the Bucs had actually begun preliminary discussions about getting a deal done before Canales left. Now, it’s a wait-and-see game. “My agent and them, I think they engaged a little bit,” Mayfield said. “But obviously when Canales left — and happy for him, as well, getting a head coaching job, he deserves that — but when they started the OC search, I think they know that we’ve got to know who’s calling plays before anything’s done.” Baker Mayfield: Bucs Made It Easy To Have More Fun In 2023 During a sit-down with ESPN’s panel at the Pro Bowl Games on Thursday night, Baker Mayfield made his feelings for the Bucs very clear. Just take his response to a question from Robert Griffin III as an example. Griffin mentioned to Mayfield that he looked like he was having more fun playing football in 2023 than he has in a long time, then went on to ask why that was the case. 
Bucs OC Dave Canales and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR “To be honest with you, I told myself I was gonna have that mindset,” Mayfield said. “But the organization made it easy on me. The locker room was great, the pieces around me were great. Obviously we just lost [Dave] Canales, but it just, [he’s] just a positive guy to be around. I think that was infectious for everybody, just for everybody to enjoy it.” Losing Canales to Carolina as the Panthers’ new head coach obviously hurts the Bucs’ chances of re-signing Baker Mayfield, but the first-time Pro Bowl quarterback clearly hopes to return anyway — even with the likelihood that he’ll work with yet another new offensive coordinator in 2024 and add to the long list of coordinators he’s worked with in his career. The Bucs’ search for an offensive coordinator is ongoing. While there was a chance that former Browns coordinator Alex Van Pelt and former Eagles coordinator Brian Johnson may have been emerging as favorites earlier this week, Van Pelt took the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job on Thursday. We’ll see who Tampa Bay’s search yields as the new play-caller and from there, we’ll wait and see how that impacts Baker Mayfield’s future. The post Baker Mayfield On Return To Bucs: “It All Just Kind Of Depends” appeared first on Pewter Report. https://www.pewterreport.com/baker-mayf ... f-depends/
