Baker Mayfield is one of the team captains for the 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as he has been for each of his three seasons in Tampa. It is, of course, very common for the starting quarterback to be a team captain, but beyond the "C" on his chest Mayfield is so clearly the emotional leader for a group that feeds on his competitiveness and will to win.
That comes naturally for Mayfield, who noted that those types of traits were labeled as "cocky" or "immature" during his early days but are now called "moxie" when he and his team are succeeding at a high level. What Mayfield has earnestly and purposely put into action as a leader is the elevation of his teammates.
"That is a key aspect of leadership," he said. "One, you have to know your job and do it well but also empower the guys to feel like they can go above and beyond. That is a huge thing in leadership, is instilling confidence. It is not a false confidence, though. It is making sure they really have it down and then at that point they realize it, and then they take it on their own. Those guys have done a good job and now we just trust them."
This has been critical for the Buccaneers in 2025 as they have tried to navigate their way around a shocking run of injuries to their offense. With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and now upstart rookie Emeka Egbuka all missing significant time, the Buccaneers have had to rely on some unproven and untested pass-catchers, and Mayfield has made it work. For instance, Tez Johnson and Kam Johnson had a combined five receptions and 14 NFL games played before they recorded five critical receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the team's Week Six win over San Francisco.
Every team breaks out the "next-man-up" line when it is hit with a rash of injuries, and it is the only way to approach such a situation. That said, there is a depth chart for a reason, and not every team is going to have a suitable replacement for a star player. In Mayfield's case with the 2025 Bucs, he came into the season truly believing the Buccaneers had players they could win with all over that depth chart. That makes it easier to instill confidence in others as the team's leader.
"Our team, I believe in it," said Mayfield. "I said it from training camp, I like the young guys that we have, I like the people that we have. Obviously, it is never ideal when you are having to move people around all the time, do not get me wrong, but nobody cares; nobody feels bad for you, so you have to find a way to make it work."
Mayfield used Tez Johnson's electrifying 45-yard touchdown catch against the 49ers as the perfect example of why he believes in the ability of the team's young players to step in and thrive right away. On the play, Johnson was originally supposed to run a route that broke across the field, like a deep over. Johnson saw that 49ers safety Marques Sigle was camped in the exact spot that route would take him to, which in turn left his path up the left hashmarks wide open. He adjusted his route, threw up his hand to alert Mayfield when he saw that he had found an opening and Mayfield delivered a moon ball that the rookie was able to haul in with his fingertips as he crossed the goal line.
"[It] was supposed to go across the field, good adjustment on his part," said Mayfield. "Safety is waiting on the other side for him, so he just takes it up the middle. It is not necessarily a busted coverage, they had it covered well if it is you run the drawings on the paper, but Tez making an adjustment on the fly. That is huge for a rookie to be able to do and do it confidently in the midst of a game like that, especially in that moment."
Mayfield obviously doesn't lack confidence in himself. Being able to uplift his teammates so that they feel the same way about themselves and perform accordingly is just as important in his role as the Buccaneers' captain and emotional leader.
