The Bucs Paid Baker Mayfield on Tuesday. By Sunday, He'd Fumbled the Bag.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended their longest-running offseason storyline on Tuesday, September 8, agreeing to a three-year, $165 million extension with Baker Mayfield that runs through the 2029 season. The new money averages $55 million per year, and the deal also restructured his 2026 compensation — a $10 million roster bonus plus a $10 million fully guaranteed base salary this season, with a $48.65 million fully guaranteed roster bonus arriving in 2027.

The timing mattered as much as the number. Mayfield had shut down extension talks at the start of training camp, telling reporters he felt disrespected by where the negotiations stood. He also said he wouldn't negotiate once the regular season began. The Bucs got it done five days before kickoff, and Mayfield publicly insisted the money hadn't changed his hunger for a Super Bowl.

Then Sunday happened.

In a 33-27 loss at Cincinnati, Mayfield completed 23 of 28 passes for 216 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions — an 82.1 percent completion rate that looks pristine in a box score and hides the actual story. He ran five times for 30 yards and a touchdown. He was also credited with a career-high three lost fumbles.

The sequence was brutal. After an opening 56-yard field goal drive, Tampa Bay had three consecutive possessions end on lost fumbles. Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. returned one 27 yards for a touchdown. Another rolled into the end zone, where safety Bryan Cook recovered it. Bucky Irving had the ball punched out by Cook and recovered by Boye Mafe. Cincinnati led 24-10 at halftime, and Tampa Bay spent the second half clawing back — a 51-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal, then rookie Josiah Trotter intercepting Joe Burrow and returning it 38 yards to cut the deficit to 27-20. It wasn't enough.

So the man the franchise just made the centerpiece of its next four seasons lost his opener on giveaways. That's the tension the Buccaneers are carrying into Week 2, and it's not a small one. Mayfield didn't throw a pick — the interception problem that dogged his earlier career stayed away. But a team that finished plus-0.5 in turnover differential last season and built its identity on ball control handed away a game in the first half hour.

The context around him makes it harder. Mike Evans is now in San Francisco, and one game was apparently enough for him to show Tampa Bay what it lost. Emeka Egbuka has become the leading target in that room, and Chris Godwin's recent injury history remains a standing concern. The extension means the Bucs are betting their window on Mayfield elevating a receiving corps that no longer has a proven alpha.

There's a real opportunity here, though. Every team in the NFC South sits at 0-1 — Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans — so nobody has separated. Sunday brings Cleveland to Raymond James Stadium, where the market has moved the line from 6.5 to 8.5 points and the total down from 42.5 to 40.5. The Browns are coming off a 34-10 dismantling in Jacksonville in which Deshaun Watson was sacked five times and threw a pick on the opening possession.

Mayfield's career splits lean home-friendly: a 92.8 passer rating with 97 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in 70 home games, against 90.8 with 112 touchdowns and 57 picks in 70 road games. Returning to Raymond James in September heat against a shaky Cleveland front is exactly the soft landing a quarterback needs after a week like that.

The contract ended the drama. It also raised the stakes. Mayfield now has the security he wanted and a roster that, on paper, still contends in a soft division. What he does with it — starting Sunday — is the story of Tampa Bay's season.