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Bucs' Baker Mayfield: I want to compete, and I want to win'

Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times on

Published in Football

TAMPA, Fla. — The new face of the Bucs at quarterback arrived with a confident smirk.

Baker Mayfield, 27, joined his fourth team since July when he signed a one-year contract with the Bucs on Monday.

It’s not been the NFL career the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft and Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma envisioned. After four seasons with the Browns, he was traded to the Panthers last summer. In December, he was claimed off waivers by the Rams, with whom he finished last season.

But he hasn’t lost any of his trademark swagger.

“It’s not how I drew my career up by any means,” Mayfield said Monday at his introductory news conference. “If I was to tell you how it would go based on a plan, I wouldn’t have said that I put on three different uniforms in year 2022, but that’s how it happens.

“So, you’ve got to learn from it. Roll with the punches, trust in God’s plan. But yeah, I’ve grown a lot. I appreciate all the things that have happened throughout my journey, and it’s helped me get here today.”

 

Mayfield said he’s learned a lot of lessons along the way. Now, it’s time to put them into practice.

“I’ve played a lot of ball. I’ve seen a decent amount, so I can help people out behind the scenes like I did last year quite a bit and just enjoying the process,” he said. “This is a dream I’m living. Why not enjoy it? But right now, I want to compete and I want to win.”

Mayfield has embraced the fact he will be competing with Kyle Trask for the Bucs’ starting job.

“I have not spoken to Kyle yet,” he said. “I’ve just watched him over the years through the college stuff, and I’ve always been a big fan. I thought he was really talented coming out and, yeah, I’m excited for it.

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