Last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed the playoffs for the first time in five years – but that was in no way because of their quarterback, Baker Mayfield. The 31-year-old veteran has been tearing up defenses from the moment he came into Tampa Bay in 2023, logging 12,237 yards and 95 touchdowns. Despite the playoff exits in ‘23 and 24’, and last season’s 8-9 heartbreak, there’s no denying that Mayfield is the franchise quarterback. But extension negotiations haven’t broken his way, and Super Bowl XLIII champ Willie Colon now believes it’s time to cut bait and move to the AFC North.

On FS1’s First Things First, Colon was asked if Mayfield could still be with the Bucs 2 years down the line. Colon made the case that the Bucs are battling injuries to their core similar to what the San Francisco 49ers are going through, and that after the ‘26 season, “they step back” to evaluate the coaching, quarterback, and their entire roster situation. And if a wrecking ball is swinging towards Tampa Bay, Mayfield could be a Pittsburgh Steelers before long.

“He’ll be a Steeler,” Colon, the former Steeler, said on the show. “I didn’t say I didn’t like him, I just understand what the organization’s doing.”

Since this offseason began, Mayfield maintained that the deadline for a new extension for him was the start of training camp. With that deadline passed, Mayfield expressed his disappointment in a recent camp presser, sending ‘new destination’ talks into overdrive.

“I really know what I’ve brought to this franchise leadership-wise and even play-wise,” Mayfield said. “It’s been some of the best years of my career, and I think it’s only gonna trend upwards. Just being comfortable and feeling that, so, disappointing in that regard. To feel disrespected a little bit, and that’s really the disappointing part, to feel undervalued after thinking you’ve earned it.”

As for the Steelers, veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers has already confirmed on multiple occasions that the 2026 season will be his last. Behind him in the QB room are Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Drew Allar. Rudolph has only played second- or third-fiddle in QB rooms for all eight seasons he’s been in the league. And the other two quarterbacks have a lot to prove before they can enter the conversation.

Howard has had a year to learn from his Idol in meeting rooms and on the sidelines, but hasn’t even played a single preseason game since being drafted in the 6th round last season. Allar, meanwhile, is the fresh addition from this year’s draft, which opens the door for Mayfield.

Jumping from Cleveland to Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield has already proven that he can succeed on the gridiron even when he’s plugged into a new system. Under Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, Mayfield could finally answer the quarterback questions that had plagued the Black and Gold since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. Whether 2026 turns into an audition for 31 franchises or gives Tampa Bay a solid reason to break the bank, for now, Mayfield’s all-in.

“I think I’m a franchise quarterback,” Mayfield said in his training camp presser. “I’ve been told I’m a franchise quarterback. It’s been said publicly from ownership down here. And so, to not have a deal done is very disappointing. But I said the deadline was a deadline and I addressed the team to let them know I meant that it’s all ball. I’m with these guys.”

For how long, though, we’ll have to wait and find out.