Bucs QB Baker Mayfield named finalist for NFL Comeback Player of the Year
#Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, #49ers RB Christian McCaffrey & #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott are finalists for The Associated Press 2023 NFL MVP & Offensive Player of the Year awards. Brock Purdy & #Bills QB Josh Allen also MVP finalists. #Browns have finalists in 4 categories. Full list: pic.twitter.com/oeiLNykUwW
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) January 25, 2024
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield had a great bounce-back season in 2023, and the Associated Press has taken notice.
The AP handles all yearly awards for the NFL, and one of those is Comeback Player of the Year — an award Mayfield has officially been nominated for. He’s one of five nominees, competing against the Cleveland Browns’ Joe Flacco, the Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin, the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa and the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford.
There isn’t a set qualifier for Comeback Player of the Year. Three of these players in Hamlin, Tagovailoa and Stafford’s case is injury, with Hamlin in particular returning to the NFL after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field in 2022. Flacco and Mayfield were not injured last year, but returned to form after previously poor play.
Regardless of the criteria, Mayfield’s season deserves to be recognized. He threw 28 touchdowns and 10 picks on 4,044 yards with a 64.3 completion percentage. The award comes after he spent 2022 on three different rosters, going from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers and then finishing the end of the season with the Los Angeles Rams.
It’s hard to tell if he’ll win the award, given how abstract the criteria is, but we’ll know for sure when the NFL Honors takes place on Feb. 8.
