You don’t have to be a fly on the wall to know that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a different vibe with Baker Mayfield at quarterback compared to their three seasons with Tom Brady at the helm.
Mayfield has now publicly admitted as much and leveled significant accusations against the now Fox Sports commentator.
Brady and Mayfield were never teammates in their NFL careers, as backing up Brady was never in the plans of the former first overall pick.
Brady’s departure gave Mayfield a lifeline in the NFL with his fourth team to salvage his professional career, which has continued.
Now, Mayfield seems comfortable enough to tell the team from within the franchise how things went under his predecessor.
Tom Brady played for the Buccaneers for three seasons before retiring for good in early 2023.
Since then, Baker Mayfield took over as quarterback for the Buccaneers and noticed the differences
“You hear some stories about if he didn’t like a certain play and he didn’t like it all week and they still call it in the game, there could have been a throwaway on purpose or it could have been thrown at the feet of the running back or the receiver,” Mayfield said in the Club House podcast.
‘There are a lot of mind games at play.’
Mayfield also mentioned how those inside the Buccaneers’ headquarters are less “stressed” than when Brady was in the building.
The results speak for themselves, as Tampa Bay made the playoffs every season with Brady on its roster, winning the Super Bowl in 2021.
That fact was true during the only full season Mayfield also played for the NFC’s Florida team, losing in the divisional round last season to the Detroit Lions.
“The building was a little bit different with Tom there,” Mayfield continued. “Obviously, as far as playing goes, Tom is different. He had everyone focused, a very tense environment, so I think everyone was pretty stressed out.”
Mayfield and the Buccaneers are at their best this season with a 2-0 record, and on Sunday they will host Tampa Bay against one of the worst teams in the league so far, the Broncos.