He has four game-winning drives in the first five weeks of the regular season. He is fourth in passing yards, tied for third for passing touchdowns and has thrown just one interception. Last Sunday, he became the first NFL quarterback in recorded history to throw for over 375 yards with fewer than five incompletions in a regular-season game.

Looking at the NFL before the 2025 season began, those accolades would have made sense for defending NFL MVP Josh Allen or perhaps a healthy Joe Burrow. But no, after five games, they can be attributed to Tampa Bay Buccaneers captain Baker Mayfield—and he has been operating with a skeleton crew for a surrounding cast.

Hold your nose, Browns fans. Here comes the cold water.

If Mayfield continues at this pace, there is a very good chance he will win his first NFL MVP in the second year of a three-year, $100 million contract. That’s a $33.3 million average annual value when he signed on the dotted line, which slid him in as the 19th-highest paid quarterback in the league. He has since restructured the deal with Tampa, adding more guaranteed money, but the sentiment still stands.

Now, if any casual fan just started watching football in the last couple years and is unfamiliar with Mayfield’s career trajectory, that contract seems insane. The guy was third in passing yards and second in touchdowns in 2024, and he might even be better this year. How is it possible that he signed such a weak contract?

Before landing in Tampa—and the hearts of Bucs fans—Mayfield had a period of time when he almost ceased to play football. After being discarded like soggy trash by the Cleveland Browns organization, Mayfield went 1-5 as a starter in Carolina before being cut in December 2022. The Browns’ move was questioned heavily, but onlookers couldn’t exactly fault the Panthers for parting ways with Mayfield.

He was not good in a Panthers uniform. People thought it was his fault.

Mayfield revitalized his career after signing on as an emergency injury replacement with the LA Rams before signing a one-year "prove it" deal with Tampa ahead of the 2023 season. The way he proved it was by making the Pro Bowl in his first season. Fast forward to now—approaching Week 6 of the 2025 season—Mayfield sits in that second year of his three-year deal with the Bucs, and he has only gotten better as time has passed. He has amassed a 4-1 record through five weeks, and he put together late-game heroics in each dramatic victory.

When a quarterback experiences a rebound like this, one of the typical reasons for it is a dramatic improvement in his surrounding cast. But so far this year, Mayfield has operated with offensive line and receiving corps situations that have been anything but favorable.

Second-year receiver Jalen McMillan has been gone all season. Before Week 4, the Bucs were without Pro Bowl-caliber slot Chris Godwin. Since Week 3, they have operated with no future Hall-of-Famer Mike Evans. And in Week 5, there was no Bucky Irving to be found. Still, with that ever-shifting arsenal of weapons, Mayfield has produced at a top-five level in nearly every statistical category.

Well, his offensive line is incredibly injured, so how is he doing it? His average time to throw is 2.60 seconds, which is blazing fast for a passer who is expected to process as quickly as him. When he can’t get the ball out that fast, his pocket often collapses, but he has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league at extending plays and picking up crucial yardage with his legs. And his deep ball has been unflappable, especially at some of the biggest moments in the game.

After five weeks, following injuries to Burrow and Lamar Jackson and a poor Sunday Night Football performance from Allen, Mayfield should garner many of the eyes from voters. If the Bucs finish the regular season as one of the top teams in the NFC, it will be difficult to deny him as a frontrunner.

That’s all great—Baker is a fun guy to root for. But Bucs fans, the team better reach that mountaintop in the next two years if he keeps playing at this level. MVPs do not come with low price tags.