While a few teams were able to add a new quarterback to their roster by way of the draft this year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers found their potential new starter in free agency, signing former first-round pick Baker Mayfield. And it sounds like former head coach Bruce Arians is happy with that decision.
This week, Bruce Arians, who remains involved with the Buccaneers as a special adviser despite his retirement, claimed that Mayfield was a better prospect coming out of college than any of the quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft, including Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson – all of whom were selected among the top four picks in the draft.
“I can honestly say out of these four, I had Baker rated higher,” Arians said, via PewterReport.com. “That’s an honest opinion – coming out [of Oklahoma].”
Obviously, Mayfield was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2018 NFL Draft, but he hasn’t exactly played the way a team would expect a No. 1 overall pick to play. But Arians thinks much of that is due to injuries and other things working against him.
“He had a tough time playing hurt and things didn’t work in Cleveland. That happens to a lot of guys. Timmy Couch was no bust. Timmy Couch got broken the hell up in Cleveland. I coached him. Helluva player,” Arians said.
We’ll have to see how Mayfield fares for the Buccaneers.
