The Bucs Would Be Wise to Extend Baker Mayfield and Vita Vea ASAP, Right???

Training camps opened all over the National Football League this week, and Tampa is where the noise is. Contract disputes, possible holdouts and a trade demand, all in one building, and one of them involves the quarterback. That is how you get everyone's attention in July.

Start with the lunch box.

The Buccaneers posted a video of Baker Mayfield strolling into work, QB1 reporting for duty, carrying something the show could not identify. "It's his lunch box," Rich reported, before conceding that it does not look anything like a lunch box.

What the video does not show is the deadline that just passed. Mayfield made it known that if he and the front office did not have a new deal by the day he reported to camp, that was it. He would play out the roughly $40 million left on his contract this year and refuse to let negotiations clutter his head through camp and the season.

Rick Stroud, the show's designated Buccaneers whisperer, reported that Mayfield is doing exactly that. No new deal. No more talking.

So a quarterback who has won with the opportunity Tampa gave him, on a team that has won four of the last five division titles, goes into this season with zero contractual security. Rich sees the upside even as he flags the risk.

"Baker's going to go into this season with a chip on his shoulder, which is dangerous," Rich said, "and it can also be helpful for the Buccaneers if he's out there showing everybody, look what I can do here, where I would like to stay and could not come up with a number comfortable for me."

Then there is Vita Vea, who has asked out. Mike Garafolo reported the trade request through Vea's agent, so this is not rumor. Vea is entering his ninth season, the final year of the deal he signed back in 2022, scheduled for an $18 million cash payout.

The problem for Vea is that the market just moved without him. Howie Roseman raised his hand and reset it, giving Jalen Carter a four-year deal worth $152 million, up to $160 million, with $106 million guaranteed. Adam Schefter had the numbers. Carter is now the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history, under contract in Philadelphia through 2031, at $38 million a year.

That is $20 million a year more than Vea. It is also, Rich pointed out, six years of age difference in the wrong direction. Vea is 31 with eight years of wear and tear. That math is almost certainly what Tampa is telling him.

To his credit, Vea did not hold out. He was there. He is holding in.

Rich's position is that neither of them is going anywhere. If you want to light up Jason Licht's phone for a 31-year-old who still has a ton left in the tank, who is 347 pounds, a physical freak and a good locker room guy, go for it. Bring a bevy of draft choices or a day one, day two pick. Rich does not think anyone does it.

The bigger question is whether Tampa can absorb all of it. Mike Evans is gone. Lavonte David is gone. The team also announced there will be no Ring of Honor honoree this year, which raised an eyebrow, because David could have been that.

Rich still is not counting them out.

"I don't think anybody's going to be running away with that division," he said. "I think you overlook the Bucs at your peril."

The reasons: young receivers coming on strong, Mayfield playing angry, and a running back room that has to stay healthy without Rashaad White. The odds agree. Tampa is the NFC South favorite.

Rich might lean Atlanta anyway, on the strength of a two-time Coach of the Year and what he can do with Bijan, though he understands why quarterback play keeps the Falcons behind the Bucs.

The genuine surprise in the odds was New Orleans sitting second, ahead of Carolina. TJ, at least, feels vindicated. He took the Saints with his first pick in the show's NFL sleeper draft with Seth Rollins last week, after Chris stole the pick he wanted, and his case is Tyler Shough and the receivers. Rich's version of that case, from his four downs on New Orleans a day earlier, is the same set of maybes: Shough in year two, Chris Olave in year two, and how much gas Alvin Kamara has left, which the Saints may have already answered by throwing a ton of money at Travis Etienne.