National Football League

2023 NFL odds: Can Baker Mayfield take the Bucs to the playoffs?

Published Aug. 24, 2023 3:09 p.m. ET

The baker is back in the starting quarterback kitchen.

On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that Baker Mayfield will serve as their starting QB this season, taking over the reins from a recently retired Tom Brady.

A former No. 1 overall pick, Mayfield has a 31-38 record as a starter, spending his first four seasons in Cleveland before splitting his time in Carolina and with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.

Can Mayfield revive his season in Tampa Bay? Let's see what the odds say.

Baker and the Bucs' odds this upcoming season at DraftKings Sportsbook:

To make the playoffs: Yes: +400, No: -500

To win the NFC South: +800 (longest odds in division)

To win the Super Bowl: +9000 (fourth-longest odds)

Regular-season wins: Over/Under 6.5

Regular-season winning record: +400 (second-longest odds)

Mayfield Over/Under passing yards: 3000.5 (Over -110, Under -110)

Mayfield Over/Under passing TDs: 17.5 (Over -110, Under -110)

Mayfield beat out Kyle Trask — the 64th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft — to win the job. In the Bucs' preseason opener against Pittsburgh, a 27-17 loss, Mayfield started the game and was 8-for-9 passing for 63 yards and a touchdown. He did not play in Tampa Bay's second preseason contest, a 13-6 win over the Jets on Aug. 19.

Over the course of his career, Mayfield, on average, has completed 61.4% of his passes and has thrown for 3,258 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions per season. He led a team to the playoffs once — the Browns in 2020 — and is 1-1 in the postseason. There, he's completed 62% of his passes for a total of 476 yards, four TDs and only one pick.

"Baker is our guy right now, experience-wise and understanding the playbook just a little bit better," said Bucs coach Todd Bowles. "But Kyle's on the come. We like both guys. We like where we're at. Baker is one, Kyle is two."

After the announcement was made, Mayfield spoke to reporters about Bowles' decision, giving credit to backups Trask and John Wolford.

"I'll say this: Our QB room has been playing extremely well this camp. … Everybody pushing each other. I can't say enough about those guys in that room that we have as a whole. The chemistry is great. But yeah, I feel like I was comfortable enough within the system, having command of the offense and able to hit guys in the right spots. It's not saying anything against anybody else, but I just feel like I'm in good command of the offense right now."

However, despite Mayfield landing in first place, "First Things First" co-host Chris Broussard took note of Bowles' decision to use the phrase "right now," suggesting that the job might not be Mayfield's for long.

"Did Todd Bowles not talk more about Kyle Trask in that announcement that Baker's our starter than he did about Baker Mayfield? … ‘Kyle’s on the come! Baker's our starter ‘right now.’' He said that twice in his press conference. ‘Right now.’"