The complete rosters for the AFC and NFC in the upcoming Pro Bowl — which is scheduled for Feb. 2 — were revealed on Thursday. However, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield wasn’t among one of the three signal-callers selected to represent the NFC conference.
Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders and Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings were the three quarterbacks chosen ahead of Mayfield.
Former Buccaneers star defensive tackle Gerald McCoy reacted to the news of Mayfield being snubbed and implied that the snub will give the quarterback extra motivation to perform at a high level moving forward.
No Baker Mayfield? pic.twitter.com/oA2wlc9Lxx
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) January 2, 2025
Good job yall pissed Baker Mayfield off………. Baker with a chip on his shoulder……….. pic.twitter.com/1eT3vISNTn
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) January 2, 2025
Mayfield was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he’s in the middle of arguably his best pro season to date. Through 16 starts so far in the 2024 regular season, he has racked up career-highs in total passing yards (4,279), passing touchdowns (39) and first downs passing (213).
The 29-year-old has the third-most passing yards to his name of any quarterback since the beginning of the campaign. Only Joe Burrow and Jared Goff have totaled more, and Burrow is leading the NFL with 4,641 yards. Mayfield is also in a tie with Lamar Jackson for the second-most passing touchdowns of any player this season.
He saved maybe his best performance of the season to this point for Tampa Bay’s most recent game against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 29. Mayfield totaled 359 passing yards, which marks the second-most in a single contest all season for the former University of Oklahoma standout. Furthermore, he totaled five passing touchdowns without throwing a single interception in a game the Buccaneers won by a landslide to improve to 9-7 on the campaign.
Mayfield has Tampa Bay in a solid position to qualify for the playoffs once again. The Buccaneers have the best record in the NFC South division, and a win over the New Orleans Saints in their last game of the season would clinch the NFC South title — and a playoff spot — this season. Conversely, a loss would drop Tampa Bay’s odds of reaching the playoffs to just 30 percent.
