Before the start of free agency, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht was able to get Pro Bowl quarterback Baker Mayfield to re-sign with his team on a three-year, $100 million deal. So as you might expect, he was pretty happy this week.
According to Greg Auman of Fox Sports, Licht revealed his “big secret” on how he was able to convince Mayfield to stay and re-sign. His trump card? Florida’s no state income tax.
“No state tax,” Jason Licht joked. “I use that one a lot.”
Baker Mayfield more than earned his contract extension. He enjoyed a career-year in his first season with the Buccaneers, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns while limiting turnovers en route to his first Pro Bowl and led the Buccaneers to the playoffs.
Licht might have been joking, but it’s actually a pretty solid reason for a player to want to keep playing there. With Uncle Sam getting upwards of 30-percent of a player’s yearly salary, states that take even a few percent more (or up to 11-percent in New Jersey) can take millions out of a player’s pocket.
Currently there are only a handful of teams that play in a state with no state income tax: The Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
That isn’t to say that it’s a deciding factor in where some players go – obviously – but more than a few players have admitted to it helping to cement their choice.