Best memes and tweets from NFL Twitter after Buccaneers sign Baker Mayfield

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 08: Baker Mayfield #17 of the Los Angeles Rams looks on during the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on January 08, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally made a move at quarterback, bringing in Baker Mayfield to compete for the starting job with Kyle Trask — and the NFL world had thoughts.

Well, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to make moves this offseason despite everything that seemed to indicate the team wouldn’t.

After coming out of nowhere to re-sign Jamel Dean on Monday, the Bucs kept making moves on Wednesday in the final few hours of the legal tampering period. Not only did the team make a move, but it went after a free agent quarterback — something that was expected but still interesting to actually see happen.

The guy the Bucs are bringing in is also an expected choice. It had been rumored over the weekend that Baker Mayfield was at the top of Tampa Bay’s target list and the front office wasted little time in landing their guy.

Baker Mayfield is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback. Let that sink in, for better or worse.

For what it’s worth, the deal for Mayfield is actually a really good one for the Bucs. The figure being kicked around is $8.5 million for one season, but ESPN’s Jenna Laine reports that the contract is laced with incentives so the Bucs might not end up paying that full amount if things don’t go well.

Nevertheless, it’s Baker Mayfield we’re talking about so people are going to have some takes about the deal. NFL fans and media alike had plenty to say about Mayfield coming to Tampa Bay to take over for Tom Brady.

Time will tell if the Bucs get the last laugh or not, but the deal makes more sense than some folks might be giving it credit.

Mayfield will come in and compete for the starting job wth Kyle Trask, helping the team decide whether or not the latter is in its future plans. If Baker beats out Trask, then that tells Tampa Bay all it needs to know and planning can begin for finding a successor.

If Trask is good, then the Bucs potentially have their answer at quarterback and essentially paid Mayfield nothing more than an $8.5M consulting fee.