Baker Mayfield Limited by Illness in Practice, Building on Resurgent 2024 Season

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield was limited in Wednesday's practice due to an illness. Mayfield is coming off a resurgent 2024 season where he found a home in Tampa Bay, achieving personal bests with 4,044 passing yards (9th in NFL) and 28 touchdown passes (7th), leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs. He demonstrated a strong ability to push the ball downfield, with an average target depth of 8.5 yards (5th) and 12.0 percent of his attempts going beyond 20 yards (5th), resulting in eight deep touchdown passes (tied for 2nd). Mayfield signed a three-year deal worth $50 million guaranteed in March. While offensive coordinator Dave Canales, credited for Mayfield's turnaround, is now with the Panthers, new OC Liam Coen is expected to implement a Sean McVay-derived offense. Mayfield will continue to work with returning key offensive players including wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, tight end Cade Otton, and running back Rachaad White, who had 64 catches last season. He finished as fantasy's QB10 last year.