TAMPA, Fla. — Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield were picked No. 1 overall in the NFL draft two years apart, had postseason success with their teams, got traded and revived their careers in new cities.
They’ve become the standard for castoff quarterbacks.
Goff and Mayfield go head-to-head Monday night when the Detroit Lions (4-2) host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1) in a potential preview of the NFC championship game.
There’s a lot of mutual respect between the two quarterbacks.
“I love Jared, great guy,” Mayfield said. “From somebody that can relate to needing a fresh start somewhere else, it is good to see that story. Everybody loves a good underdog story or whatever it is, go through adversity, come out the other side stronger. That is life and that is what football can teach you.”
Said Goff: “I’m a big fan of his and he’s done a great job.”
Goff led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl in the 2018 season — they lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. He made two Pro Bowls in his five seasons with the Rams but was traded to the Lions in a deal for Matthew Stafford in 2021. While Stafford led Los Angeles to a Super Bowl victory in his first season, Goff was supposed to be just a stopgap solution in Detroit.
Instead, he turned into the nucleus of a dynamic offense on a championship contender. Goff has made two Pro Bowls with the Lions and is off to another excellent start. He has completed 75.9% of his passes for 1,390 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions.
“That guy’s operating at a high level, the highest in the league in my opinion,” Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said. “I’m very fortunate as a coordinator to have him on the other side of the ball as the quarterback.”
Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns to a playoff win at Pittsburgh in his third season in 2020 — the franchise’s only postseason victory this century. But he was traded to Carolina in 2022 after the Browns made a blockbuster deal to acquire Deshaun Watson that ended up disastrous for the organization.
Mayfield started just six games for the Panthers, was released, joined the Rams and led them to a victory in a Thursday night game only three days after his arrival. His brief tenure with Sean McVay in Los Angeles restarted his career.
After Brady retired, the Buccaneers signed Mayfield as a low-risk, high-reward option in 2023. He wasn’t even guaranteed a starting job and had to beat out Kyle Trask in training camp. Mayfield played so well that first-year offensive coordinator Dave Canales was hired to coach Carolina.
Mayfield was even better last year, making the Pro Bowl for the second straight year and helping lead the Buccaneers to their fourth straight NFC South title. He also helped first-year OC Liam Coen earn the head coaching job in Jacksonville.
This season, Mayfield is an early favorite for NFL MVP. He has completed 66.2% of his passes for 1,539 yards, 12 TDs and one interception while playing behind an injury-riddled offensive line and with a depleted wide receiver group. Mayfield has also run for 158 yards and 11 first downs, displaying some impressive scrambling ability along the way.
“To me, they’re both really tough, dependable, resilient guys,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of Goff and Mayfield. “I think both of them have overcome a lot. I think when you watch those guys and just the nature of the way they play — like our quarterback will sit in there. ... he’s getting crunched in the pocket and has to deliver the ball. He’s not afraid of that. They both deliver in critical moments, they don’t get frazzled. I just think there’s those elements to it.
“And of course, Baker has got the ability to run a little bit more. And that shows up because he’s hard to take down. He’ll slip under you, he can stay alive — you saw what he did the other day, he broke a bunch of tackles, found a way to get that first down, third-and-14. I mean that’s kind of his game too. So, just competitive, and that’s what they have in common. Guys are competitive."
They’ll compete in the fourth matchup between these two teams in the past three seasons. The Lions won 20-6 in Tampa Bay in Oct. 2023 and beat the Buccaneers at home 31-23 in a divisional playoff that season. The Buccaneers defeated Detroit 20-16 last September in one of the Lions’ only two losses.
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