Contract talks between Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and the front office have stalled, as the QB focuses on the 2026 season while heading into the final year of his contract. Though Tampa Bay guaranteed him $30 million for 2026, long-term extension negotiations were officially tabled until the offseason, leaving his future with the franchise uncertain.

That looks like a similar situation with defensive tackle Vita Vea. His extension talks with the Bucs also dragged on before finally getting finalized, giving Mayfield an example of how the front office operates.

“Vita’s contract got done, which is a big deal. He’s the anchor for the defense and somebody that takes a ton of double teams and lets those other guys play free, and so huge part,” Baker Mayfield said on the Rich Eisen Show. “So really, really happy for him. But for me it’s I can use that as is galvanizing the troops and rallying everybody behind that, listen it doesn’t matter what’s going on. We’re still going to play hard for each other. Stuff can be handled outside of the football field, and that’s the business aspect of it.”

Back in July 2026, ahead of the training camp, Mayfield publicly showed his frustration around no progress towards the contract negotiations and mentioned that he felt disrespected by the stalled negotiation talks.

“I think I’m a franchise quarterback,” he said. “I’ve been told I’m a franchise quarterback. It’s been said publicly from ownership down here, and so to not having a deal done is very disappointing.”

“It’s disappointing in that regard, to feel disrespected a little bit,” Mayfield said. “That’s really the disappointing part to feel undervalued after you think you’ve earned it. This is not a ‘poor me’ thing today. There’s a lot of other people who have it way worse off. But I can sit here and look at other quarterbacks and peers and evaluate myself based on that and put myself in certain categories that I deserved to be compensated for that.”

Mayfield is playing through the last season of his three-year, $100 million contract. While he’s slated to hit free agency next spring, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht effectively shut down any hope of an early extension on Tuesday, declaring contract talks dead for now.

“We certainly respect him wanting to focus on the season,” Licht said. “We’re focused on the season. Been here long enough to know in this league, I won’t make predictions on what could happen. What will happen. What won’t happen. Right now we’re all focused on — I’ve been waiting to say this for a long time — it’s on to Cincinnati.”

Even though Mayfield has voiced frustration about the process, he has made it clear that it is not changing how he shows up for the Bucs this season. His comments on Vea’s deal and his repeated insistence that business matters stay separate from what happens on the field suggest a player choosing to let his performance make the case for him.

With Licht confirming talks are done for now, the franchise tag remains firmly in play as a fallback option for 2027, one that would land Mayfield a projected $50 million salary and roughly $80 million in cap charges if the Buccaneers go that route. For now, though, the message from both sides is the same: business can wait. The season, starting with the Cincinnati Bengals, is what’s in front of them.