Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He began his college football career with the Texas Tech Red Raiders before transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2017, he became the first Heisman Trophy winner since the introduction of athletic scholarships in the 1950s to have begun his college career as a walk-on. The Cleveland Browns selected him first overall in the 2018 NFL draft.
As a rookie, Mayfield threw 27 touchdown passes, setting an NFL rookie record that stood until Justin Herbert broke it in 2020. In his NFL debut, he led the Browns to a comeback victory that ended the franchise's 19-game winless streak. In 2020, he helped Cleveland make its first playoff appearance since 2002 and win its first playoff game since 1994. After Cleveland acquired Deshaun Watson, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2022 and later played for the Los Angeles Rams.
Mayfield signed with Tampa Bay in 2023. In his first two seasons with the Buccaneers, he helped the team win consecutive NFC South titles and a playoff game, and he was selected to the Pro Bowl in both seasons. His career postseason passer rating of 105.9 is the highest in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 150 attempts.
Early life Baker Reagan Mayfield was born on April 14, 1995, in Austin, Texas, to James and Gina Mayfield. He is the younger of their two sons. His mother chose the name Baker, and his father selected Reagan as his middle name in honor of President Ronald Reagan. During Mayfield's senior year in high school, his family sold its home and moved among rental properties after his father, a private equity consultant, encountered financial difficulties.
Mayfield grew up as a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners and attended the team's games with his family. His father played quarterback and punter for the University of Houston from 1967 to 1969 but did not letter.
Mayfield was the starting quarterback for the Lake Travis High School Cavaliers in Austin. He posted a 25–2 record over two seasons and led the team to the 2011 Class 4A state championship. He finished his high school career with 6,255 passing yards, 67 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Mayfield received scholarship offers from Washington State, Rice, New Mexico, and Florida Atlantic, but chose to attend Texas Tech as a walk-on.
College career
Texas Tech 2013 season With projected starter Michael Brewer sidelined by a back injury, Mayfield was named Texas Tech's starting quarterback shortly before the 2013 season opener against SMU. He became the first walk-on true freshman quarterback to start an FBS season opener.
Mayfield completed 43 of 60 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns in Texas Tech's 41–23 victory over SMU. His 43 completions set a Texas Tech record for a quarterback in a career debut, and he was named Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
A knee injury limited Mayfield during the season, and Davis Webb made four starts before Mayfield returned for the final two regular-season games. Mayfield finished the season with 2,315 passing yards on 218 completions in 340 attempts, with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
In November, Mayfield was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy. He was later named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. In December, Mayfield announced that he would transfer from Texas Tech.
Oklahoma 2014 season Mayfield enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in January 2014 and joined the Sooners as a walk-on. He arrived without having contacted the coaching staff and introduced himself to head coach Bob Stoops after enrolling. Mayfield sat out the season under NCAA transfer rules and worked with Oklahoma's scout team. His appeal for immediate eligibility was denied in September.
2015 season On August 24, 2015, Stoops named Mayfield the starting quarterback for the 2015 season after a competition with Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas. In his second start, he helped Oklahoma overcome a 17-point deficit to defeat Tennessee 31–24 in double overtime. The following week against Tulsa, Mayfield set an Oklahoma record with 572 yards of total offense. He passed for 487 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns in a 52–38 win.
Mayfield finished the season with 3,700 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Big 12, won the Burlsworth Trophy, and received first-team All-America recognition from Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.
Oklahoma finished the regular season 11–1 and won the Big 12 championship after defeating Oklahoma State 58–23. The Sooners reached the College Football Playoff but lost 37–17 to Clemson in the Orange Bowl semifinal. Mayfield passed for 311 yards and one touchdown in the game.
2016 season In June 2016, the Big 12 amended its transfer rule to allow walk-ons who had not received a written scholarship offer from their former school to transfer within the conference without losing a season of eligibility. The change restored Mayfield's eligibility for the 2017 season.
On October 22, Mayfield completed 27 of 36 passes for 545 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a 66–59 win over Texas Tech. Oklahoma became the first team to finish 9–0 in Big 12 regular-season play and won its second consecutive conference championship.
Mayfield passed for 3,965 yards, 40 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He led the FBS with a 70.9 completion percentage and set an FBS single-season record with a 196.4 passing efficiency rating. He finished third in Heisman Trophy voting and won the Burlsworth Trophy for the second consecutive year. In the 2017 Sugar Bowl, Mayfield completed 19 of 28 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns as Oklahoma defeated Auburn 35–19. He received the Miller-Digby Award as the game's most outstanding player.
2017 season On September 9, Mayfield passed for 386 yards and three touchdowns as Oklahoma defeated No. 2 Ohio State 31–16 in Columbus. After the game, he attempted to plant an Oklahoma flag at midfield and apologized two days later. On November 4, he set Oklahoma records with 598 passing yards and 589 yards of total offense against Oklahoma State. He threw five touchdown passes and ran for another as the Sooners won 62–52.
During a 41–3 win over Kansas on November 18, Mayfield made an obscene gesture and appeared to shout a profanity toward the Kansas sideline. He apologized after the game. Head coach Lincoln Riley responded by withholding Mayfield from the starting lineup and captaincy for the following game against West Virginia, although Mayfield was permitted to play.
On December 2, Mayfield threw four touchdown passes as Oklahoma defeated TCU 41–17 in the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game. He was named the game's most outstanding player, and the win secured Oklahoma a place in the College Football Playoff. One week later, Mayfield won the 2017 Heisman Trophy. He became the first Heisman winner to begin his college career as a walk-on since athletic scholarships were introduced in the 1950s. He was also named a unanimous first-team All-American and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
Oklahoma faced Georgia in the 2018 Rose Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal, and lost 54–48 in double overtime. Mayfield finished the season with 4,627 passing yards, 43 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He led the FBS with a 70.5 completion percentage and broke his own FBS single-season record with a 198.9 passing efficiency rating.
Baker Mayfield rule Texas Tech did not grant Mayfield a full release for an intraconference transfer. Under the rules then in effect, he was required to sit out the 2014 season and lost a season of Big 12 eligibility. Mayfield argued that the eligibility penalty should not apply because he had been a walk-on and had never received a scholarship from Texas Tech. In January 2014, a five-member panel of Texas Tech's athletics council unanimously denied his appeal to retain the season of eligibility.
Texas Tech later permitted Oklahoma to place Mayfield on scholarship but did not waive the transfer restriction that prevented him from playing during the 2014 season. Mayfield also sought a waiver from the NCAA for immediate eligibility, arguing that his former walk-on status distinguished him from scholarship transfers. The NCAA denied that appeal in September 2014.
On June 1, 2016, the Big 12 faculty athletics representatives voted 5–5 on a proposal that would have allowed walk-ons to transfer within the conference without losing a season of eligibility. Because the proposal did not receive a majority, it initially failed. The representatives reconsidered the issue the following day and approved an amended proposal by a 7–3 vote. The amendment applied to walk-ons who had not received a written scholarship offer from their former school.
Because Mayfield had not received a written scholarship offer from Texas Tech, the change restored his eligibility to play for Oklahoma in 2017. The amendment became commonly known as the "Baker Mayfield rule". Texas Tech voted in favor of the amended proposal.
Professional career
Cleveland Browns
2018 season
The Cleveland Browns selected Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Mayfield signed a four-year rookie contract with the Browns on July 24, 2018, with the deal worth $32.68 million in guaranteed salary.
Mayfield played in his first NFL game in Week 3 against the New York Jets, replacing an injured Tyrod Taylor with the Browns down 14–0. Mayfield went 17 of 23, passing for 201 yards as the Browns came back and prevailed 21–17, ending their winless streak at 19 games. Mayfield became the first player since Fran Tarkenton in 1961 to come off the bench in his debut, throw for more than 200 yards, and lead his team to its first win of the season.
Mayfield started for the first time in the Browns' next game, making him the 30th starting quarterback for the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999, in a 45–42 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders. In Week 5, Mayfield threw for 342 passing yards and one touchdown as he earned his first victory as a Browns starter, in a 12–9 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 10, Mayfield led the Browns to a 28–16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. throwing for 216 yards, three touchdowns, and a passer rating of 151.2, with no turnovers. The following week, Mayfield led the Browns to their first away win since 2015, against the Cincinnati Bengals. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 12, in a 29–13 loss to the Houston Texans, Mayfield passed for 397 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Mayfield bounced back in the following game, a 26–20 victory over the Carolina Panthers, going 18 of 22 for 238 passing yards and one touchdown.