Once upon a time, Baker Mayfield was a free agent quarterback and chose to sign with the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield has gone on to rejuvenate his career, much to the dismay of New Orleans Saints fans, leading his team to a division title in each of his previous two seasons at the helm and emerging as an MVP candidate this year.
Week 8 marks the first time the Saints will meet up with the Bucs this year and Mayfield didn't hold back on his feelings about the black and gold when speaking to the media.
“Hasn't exactly been clean play from their part when we play 'em. It’s a physical game, it is what it is,” Mayfield said. “You expect it, they’re a division rival. Not much else to say besides the fact that I don't like 'em."
Saints fans probably raised their eyebrows when Mayfield said this but WTSP's Evan Closky shared a video on X about why the Bucs quarterback might feel the way he does. In that video, Mayfield is hit late twice and was injured from those hits. It's worth noting that the late hits were penalized so, not saying that those hits were okay, but it's not as though the Saints went unpunished for them.
Baker Mayfield alludes to the Saints being a dirty team ahead of Week 8 matchup
Since joining the Bucs in the 2023 season, Mayfield and his squad have gone 3-1 against the Saints with the most recent outing being a 27-19 victory in Week 18 of last season. Before that, the Bucs blew the doors off the Saints, winning 51-27 and leaving no doubt which team was the better squad.
While the Saints are 1-6 and not looking like they're going anywhere this year, they're not as hopeless as some of these other teams in the league (looking at you, Jets, Dolphins, Titans, and Raiders). Maybe they'll be able to hang with the Bucs and make a game of this.
One thing is for sure though, considering how fired up Mayfield gets, don't be surprised if he has one of his best games of the year when the Bucs show up to play in the Big Easy. Hopefully, the Saints not only put up a fight but can hand the Buccaneers a surprising defeat.