Ex-NFL QB on Baker Mayfield: ‘He is your MVP as of right now’

Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been a catalyst behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ torrid start to the 2025 season. Through six starts for Tampa Bay, not only has he averaged 256.5 passing yards per game, but he’s limited his mistakes to an incredible degree.

Mayfield has thrown for 12 touchdowns already compared to just one interception not long after he racked up a league-high 16 interceptions in the 2024 season. Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert thinks that the 30-year-old is the league’s MVP at this juncture.

“He is your MVP as of right now in this season,” he said.

Mayfield and company handed the San Francisco 49ers just their second loss of the season on Sunday. Of his 23 passing attempts, he completed 17 of them while throwing for 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sunday marked his fifth game of the campaign without a single interception.

Mayfield has been a solidified star at the quarterback position for a little while now, and he’s on track to be in the MVP mix, at the very least. However, nobody is a lock to win the award this early in the season.

Indianapolis Colts signal-caller Daniel Jones is among those in the hunt. Like Mayfield, he has also been key to a 5-1 start to the season. While his overall numbers aren’t quite as gaudy as Mayfield’s, Jones is completing a career-high 71.7 percent of his passes this season and ranks tops in the league in passing success rate.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is also in the running for the hardware. After all, he’s the reigning league MVP, even if he just narrowly beat out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the voting last season in a controversial race.

It should be exciting to see how the MVP race shakes out as the season goes on. But at this time, Mayfield seems to have as good a chance as anyone to go on to capture the coveted prize, and sustaining this level of play should have him in a strong position to do just that.