AI Summary
5 min readBaker Gets Paid, Donald Stays Home, and the NFL Season Begins
Baker Mayfield is now a $55 million-a-year quarterback. That sentence, as Ben Maller put it on his Wednesday night show, is one that requires a moment to "let that settle in." The Buccaneers and their quarterback agreed to a three-year extension reportedly worth up to $160-165 million, keeping Mayfield in Tampa Bay through 2029. The deal came together after a public spat: Mayfield had cut off negotiations earlier in training camp, declaring the team's initial offer "disrespectful," then climbed what Maller called "Mount Principal" before coming "sledding right back down" when the real money showed up.
Maller's take is blunt. The NFL, he says, "is like the Mexican drug cartel. They got so much money, they don't know what to do with the money." Tampa Bay got drunk on "quarterback inflation" and paid "filet mignon prices" for a player who is, at best, "a really good hamburger." Mayfield, the former number one overall pick out of Oklahoma, has had a career arc that goes from the Browns (where Odell Beckham Jr.'s father used social media to get him run out of town) to a faceplant in Carolina, a brief stop with the Rams, and then a revival in Tampa. Maller's assessment of what the Buccaneers are actually getting: three or four elite-level games per season, eight or nine games of "middle of the road" play, and a handful
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:05) **Show Open & Baker Mayfield's Mega-Deal** - Ben Maller opens the hour with the breaking news of Baker Mayfield's three-year, $165 million extension with the Buccaneers, calling it "Baker MANIA."
- 2 (08:08) **Was the "Disrespected" Act a Bluff?** - Maller argues Tampa Bay "blinked" after Mayfield played the "disrespected card," suggesting the quarterback's public stance was a negotiating tactic that paid off.
- 3 (13:09) **Is Baker Mayfield a True Franchise Quarterback?** - Maller digs deeper, questioning if Mayfield is worth the $55 million per year price tag, concluding he is not a true franchise QB.
- 4 (17:06) **Aaron Donald Skips Rams' Australia Opener** - The show shifts to Aaron Donald's decision to skip the Rams' season opener against the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, delaying his comeback until at least Week 2.
- 5 (21:21) **Aaron Donald as the "Rod Stewart" of the NFL** - Maller compares the aging star to an aging rock star who skips rehearsals and wanders onto the stage to play only the greatest hits.
- 6 (27:00) **Caller Banter & Social Media Reactions** - Maller takes a break from the lead stories to read listener comments and interact with the show's audience, including a caller named Big Daddy.
- 7 (38:47) **Dre Greenlaw's Antarctica Conspiracy Theory** - Maller highlights 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw's bizarre media session in Melbourne, where he questioned if Antarctica is "a lie."
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Are you surprised Tampa Bay blinked after Baker Mayfield’s “disrespected” comments? ... Is Bucs QB Baker Mayfield a true franchise quarterback? ... What message is Aaron Donald sending by skipping Rams' season opener?
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