Joyful Take.

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After Carolina waived him: Baker Mayfield's road to Tampa

Between July 2022 and March 2023, Baker Mayfield was traded, waived, claimed and handed a two-day crash course that ended in a 98-yard drive. That stretch explains why Tampa Bay took a chance on him.

3 min read September 27, 2026 edition
A paper airplane folded from a blank sheet glides above a long, curving dotted route that sweeps across a sunlit football field toward a glowing end zone.
A playbook read at cruising altitude, a route drawn two days later. Illustration: Joyful Take.

The Rams' playbook got its first read on an airplane. When Los Angeles claimed Baker Mayfield off waivers on December 6, 2022, he had two days to learn a new offense before a Thursday night game, and the Buccaneers' own retelling of that week says he studied it on the flight west. I like starting there. His route to Tampa Bay only makes sense once you see how little time anyone gave him.

July to December 2022: a trade, then a release

Cleveland had made him the first overall pick in 2018. By the summer of 2022 the relationship was over, and on July 6 the Browns traded him to Carolina for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick that could become a fourth-rounder depending on his playing time. He took a $3.5 million pay cut to make the deal work, NFL.com reported, with Cleveland still covering $10.5 million of his salary.

Carolina did not go well. He went 1-5 as a starter, completing 119 of 206 passes for 1,313 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions. The Panthers waived him on December 5. The next day the Rams were the only team to put in a claim, according to NFL.com, which also noted that the 49ers passed.

December 8, 2022: the 98-yard drive

He did not start that Thursday against the Raiders. He came in after the first series, replacing John Wolford, and spent most of the night finding his footing. Then the Rams got the ball at their own 2-yard line, down 16-10, with 1:45 left and no timeouts.

Ninety-eight yards later, Van Jefferson caught a 23-yard touchdown with 10 seconds to go, and the Rams won 17-16. ESPN cited the Elias Sports Bureau: it was the longest go-ahead touchdown drive starting in the final two minutes in 45 seasons. Mayfield finished 22 of 35 for 230 yards with no interceptions, and 15 of those completions came in the fourth quarter.

I don't know if you could write it any better than that.

Baker Mayfield, after the Rams beat the Raiders (source)

Why a five-game stint mattered to Tampa Bay

The Rams deal expired when the season ended. On March 15, 2023, CBS Sports reported that Tampa Bay was signing him for one year and up to $8.5 million, with a $4 million base, to compete with 2022 second-round pick Kyle Trask for the job Tom Brady had just left. He won it, and he has started for the Bucs ever since.

Nobody in Tampa has said the Thursday night in Inglewood sealed that signing, and I could not find a team source claiming it did. My guess, labeled as a guess, is that it helped. Two days with a new playbook showed a front office what he could do when nothing around him was settled.

Mayfield himself treats that week as a turning point. Before a return to SoFi Stadium in November 2025, he looked back on it in words the Buccaneers' site recorded.

It was pivotal in my career and in my journey. I have told you guys that it helped me find the joy in football again

Baker Mayfield (source)

The sequence, start to finish

  • 2018: Cleveland drafts him first overall.
  • July 6, 2022: traded to Carolina for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick.
  • December 5, 2022: waived by the Panthers after a 1-5 run as a starter.
  • December 6, 2022: claimed by the Rams, the only team to put in a claim.
  • December 8, 2022: the 98-yard drive and a 17-16 win over Las Vegas.
  • March 2023: signs a one-year deal with Tampa Bay.
  • March 2024: signs a three-year, $100 million deal.
  • September 8, 2026: agrees to a three-year, $165 million extension through 2029.

Most careers do not recover from a midseason release. His went through a cram session on an airplane, a drive that started at the 2-yard line, and a cheap one-year contract that I would rank as the best value signing of the Bucs' post-Brady years.

Sources

Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.

  1. Browns trading Baker Mayfield to Panthers for 2024 conditional fifth-round draft pickNFL.com, 2022-07-06.
  2. Rams claim former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield off waivers; Niners didn't make claim for QBNFL.com, 2022-12-06.
  3. Rams' Baker Mayfield comes off bench, wins debut on 98-yard driveESPN, 2022-12-08.
  4. Baker Mayfield delivers magical win for Rams: 'I don't know if you could write it any better than that'NFL.com, 2022-12-09.
  5. The Improbable 98-Yard Drive that Altered Baker Mayfield's CourseTampa Bay Buccaneers, 2025-11-19.
  6. NFL free agency 2023: Buccaneers signing Baker Mayfield to one-year, $8.5 million deal, per reportCBS Sports, 2023-03-15.
  7. Baker Mayfield contract details and historyOver The Cap, accessed 2026-09-27.