Bruce Arians discusses Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield replacing Tom Brady

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and current club senior advisor Bruce Arians spoke Monday night about why quarterback Baker Mayfield was the right choice to serve as at least a temporary replacement for retired living legend Tom Brady. 

"When you’re following Tom Brady, it’s not easy, bro," Arians said about Mayfield during the "ManningCast" alternate broadcast of Monday's wild-card playoff game between Tampa Bay and the Philadelphia Eagles that the Bucs won 32-9, per the JoeBucsFan website. "But he has the charisma. He’s got a fire about him that I just love."

It's no secret Arians was a Mayfield fan even before the Cleveland Browns selected the signal-caller with the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Shortly after Mayfield signed a one-year "prove it" contract with the Buccaneers last offseason, Arians mentioned he liked the 28-year-old's "moxie." 

Such swagger helped Mayfield battle through rib and ankle injuries on Monday night. 

"I loved him coming out of school, had great grades on him," Arians added about Mayfield. "I think he’s just doing a tremendous job. He won this locker room over quick."

According to ESPN stats, Mayfield ended this past regular season ranked 12th in the NFL among qualified players with a 94.6 passer rating and seventh with 28 touchdown passes. He helped the Buccaneers win five of their final six games to claim the NFC South division title, and he then completed 22-of-36 pass attempts for 337 yards and three touchdowns in Monday's blowout victory over Philadelphia.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out Mayfield has earned $2.85M in incentives along with his $4M base salary for 2023. To compare, it would cost Tampa Bay roughly $35M to retain Mayfield's rights for 2024 via the franchise tag. 

Mayfield's camp and the Buccaneers will eventually enter serious discussions about his future, but he'll first spend the next week focusing on continuing to prove doubters wrong. As of late Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Tampa Bay as a six-point underdog for this coming Sunday's divisional playoff game at the Detroit Lions. 

Detroit defeated the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 this past Sunday night.