Baker Mayfield loses the Michigan bet, faces former Browns on a $165 million week
Baker Mayfield appeared at his Wednesday Tampa Bay Buccaneers press conference in an ill-fitting University of Michigan basketball tank top, the settlement of a friendly wager he lost to head coach Todd Bowles after Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10 on Saturday. "That hurts, that hurts real bad," Mayfield said. "It's been a rough couple of days." The remark carries weight beyond the college scoreboard: Mayfield is 0-1 on a three-year, $165 million contract extension he signed just last week, following a 33-27 opening-week loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in which he threw no touchdown passes and lost three fumbles.
Key takeaways
- Baker Mayfield wore an ill-fitting University of Michigan basketball tank top at his Wednesday press conference after losing a friendly bet to Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles when Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10.
- Mayfield is 0-1 on a three-year, $165 million contract extension he signed last week, following a 33-27 opening-week loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
- In the opener, Mayfield threw no touchdown passes and lost three fumbles, including one near the goal line.
- On Sunday, Mayfield faces the Cleveland Browns, the team that drafted him first overall in 2018 before trading him to Carolina in favor of Deshaun Watson, who remains Cleveland's starter.
- Michigan and Oklahoma just completed a two-game home-and-home series with no future meetings scheduled, ending any chance of a rematch bet between Bowles and Mayfield.
Baker Mayfield appeared at his Wednesday Tampa Bay Buccaneers press conference in an ill-fitting University of Michigan basketball tank top, the settlement of a friendly wager he lost to head coach Todd Bowles after Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10 on Saturday. "That hurts, that hurts real bad," Mayfield said. "It's been a rough couple of days." The remark carries weight beyond the college scoreboard: Mayfield is 0-1 on a three-year, $165 million contract extension he signed just last week, following a 33-27 opening-week loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in which he threw no touchdown passes and lost three fumbles.
The wager had a family dimension. Bowles' son, Troy, plays for the Wolverines. Mayfield played for the Oklahoma Sooners. Bowles stood in the doorway before the press conference humming the Michigan fight song and calling out "Let's go blue." When Mayfield explained to reporters why he was squeezing into a child-size tank top, he laid it out plainly: "Oklahoma versus Michigan. Todd's son was on the winning side of it. The Sooners were not. And so, therefore, I squeezed into this little tank top."
The setup against Cleveland
Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns is the next concrete read on where both Mayfield and Bowles stand. Cleveland took Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 draft, and he played there through the 2021 season. When the Browns decided Deshaun Watson was the better fit and sent Mayfield to Carolina, Mayfield was, by all accounts at the time, quite angry. Watson remains Cleveland's starting quarterback entering this week.
Three lost fumbles in a season opener, including one near the goal line when a score looked certain, is a difficult first entry on a $165 million ledger. Bowles carries his own pressure: he is under expectation to get the Buccaneers into the postseason, and the opener did not go to script for either of them.
One thing closed regardless of how Sunday goes. Michigan and Oklahoma just completed the second leg of a two-game home-and-home series. No future meetings between the programs are currently scheduled, removing the vehicle for any rematch bet between Bowles and Mayfield. Watson is still the Browns' quarterback.
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Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on September 16, 2026. Source: foxnews.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.