Baker Mayfield ‘hit the reset button’ with Rams after career hit rock bottom

Baker Mayfield’s life after being taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.

But now, he thinks he’s on the right path.

After an up-and-down first few years in the league, Mayfield said he rebooted things once while playing for the Rams at the end of last season and is now energized for the next phase of his career with the Buccaneers. 

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It was the first time I had fun playing football in a few years,” Mayfield said of his time with the Rams during a media call prior to the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.

“It brought that feeling of having that success and really remembering what it was all about, Kind of hit the reset button for me.”

Mayfield, drafted first overall by the Browns, had a rocky relationship with the franchise. 

While he led the club to its first playoff victory in 26 years in 2020, complications with the front office and teammates, namely Odell Beckham Jr, made for an uncertain future in Cleveland.  

Mayfield, 27, suffered a torn labrum in October 2021 and saw his performance decline for the rest of that year as he threw just 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. 

The quarterback underwent surgery for the injury in January 2022, and when the Browns brought in Deshaun Watson two months later, the writing was on the wall that Mayfield didn’t have much of a spot on the Browns’ roster.

Mayfield was subsequently traded to Carolina in July 2022, but he struggled with the Panthers, completing a career-worst 57.7 percent of his passes while going 1-5 under center.

Before the season ended, he was released by Carolina in December –– a move he requested after he was moved to third on the depth chart behind Sam Darnold and PJ Walker.

But that’s when the reset came. 

An underperforming and beleaguered Rams team claimed Mayfield off waivers with quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, John Wolford and Bryce Perkins all battling injuries. 

Mayfield started four games and played in five, throwing for 850 yards and four touchdowns.

He said this stretch helped spark his career back to life. 

“To be around a coach like Sean McVay and a bunch of other guys… to be around those guys and to be in that offense and now looking forward to being in Tampa because it’s a very similar system with our new offensive coordinator [David Canales],” Mayfield said. 

After Mayfield’s successful short sample in Los Angeles, he signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with Tampa Bay this March. 

Entering his sixth season in the league, Mayfield is competing with Kyle Trask as they look to fill Tom Brady’s shoes.

“It was great to get to be around the whole staff, the organization, the teammates especially,” Mayfield said of his time at the Buccaneers’ minicamp.

“Get to know everybody and see just how they’ve had so much recent success and see the key pieces in that locker room.”

With the 2023 NFL season on the horizon, Mayfield is determined to get his career back on track. 

“Revitalized,” he said. “I’m really excited and pumped up and just looking forward to the future.”