Friday night, mostly clear. Low near 50F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Saturday, partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 63F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph.
Author: alaskaadmin
Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Saturday, mostly sunny skies. High near 70F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
TAMPA BAY — Baker Mayfield set a tone for his extension negotiations with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first comments to the media this offseason: He wants to be the team’s long-term quarterback, but he’s willing to play out the final year of his contract without a new deal in place. “Contract stuff is happening, starting, talks and whatnot, not anywhere close to what we were thinking,” Mayfield said Friday during a youth football camp he’s hosting at the Buccaneers’ indoor practice facility. “Would love to be here long-term, and as of right now, that’s not exactly the case. I’m under contract for 2026. The guys in that locker room, the staff know that I’m still going to be me, still going to do everything I can to help this team win a Super Bowl. To me, that’s the priority. Everything else will take care of itself.” Mayfield, who has one year remaining on a three-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2024, added that his deadline to get an extension done is the start of training camp. “Obviously, yes, I’d love to have a long-term deal done, but they know my deadline,” Mayfield said. “As soon as training camp starts, we’re not doing any contract stuff. It’s all ball. It’s not up to me when that gets done by. Hopefully before that. If not, we’ll still have a good year.” While the Bucs haven’t announced when training camp will begin, it’s usually late in July. So, the clock’s now ticking on both parties to get something agreed to before then. But what should both sides be looking for in the potential extension? That’s tough to figure out. Mayfield, who turned 31 in April, has seen a career resurgence in Tampa, taking over in 2023 after Tom Brady’s retirement. Once a No. 1 overall pick of the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield was traded from his first NFL home to the Carolina Panthers in the summer of 2022, struggled there and finished that season with the Los Angeles Rams. When he first signed with the Buccaneers, it was a one-year, $4 million deal that got up to $7 million with a strong first year. He led the Bucs to back-to-back division titles, passing for a career-best 41 touchdowns and 4,500 yards in 2024. But Mayfield, much like the Buccaneers, was inconsistent last year, playing through multiple injuries while key offensive pieces were sidelined throughout the season. The Bucs opened the year 6-2, with Mayfield throwing 13 touchdowns against two interceptions. Then, they lost seven of their last nine, with Mayfield throwing 13 touchdowns against nine interceptions. The Bucs finished in a three-way tie atop the NFC South standings, losing to the Panthers due to a tiebreaker to miss the playoffs for the first time in six years. The Buccaneers have dealt with significant departures this spring, with two beloved players from their 2020 Super Bowl roster now gone. Linebacker Lavonte David retired after 14 seasons in Tampa, and Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans signed with the San Francisco 49ers after 12 seasons in Tampa Bay. That leaves Mayfield as the unquestioned face of the franchise, and creates questions as to just how much it will cost for Tampa to keep him. Mayfield hasn’t publicly stated how much money he’s looking for in his next contract, but Spotrac projects his value at around four years and $214 million. That works out to $53.6 million per year, a figure that would make him the seventh-highest-paid quarterback in the league. However, most of those deals were to quarterbacks who were younger at the time of signing, with two exceptions. Dak Prescott signed a $60 million-per-year pact at age 31 with the Dallas Cowboys, and 38-year-old Matthew Stafford signed a one-year, $55 million extension this spring with the Los Angeles Rams following his MVP season. If Mayfield ends up playing out the 2026 season without a contract for 2027, though, he’d be in line to potentially become a prime franchise tag candidate or one of the most coveted players at any position next offseason. The franchise tag for quarterbacks in 2027 is likely to be about $51 million for one year, a significant raise that would take up a larger chunk of the 2027 cap than a long-term extension. In the event Mayfield isn’t tagged, he’d join a relatively deep talent pool of free agents at quarterback. Kyler Murray (Minnesota Vikings) and Tua Tagovailoa (Atlanta Falcons) are on one-year rests after being cut from huge contracts, while a veteran like Deshaun Watson (Cleveland Browns) could be an option for teams looking to add at quarterback next March. Of course, Mayfield’s play in 2026 will largely dictate what the Buccaneers plan to do with him if he doesn’t sign an extension this offseason. It could go two very different ways for the Bucs: If Mayfield looks like the first half of last season and gets Tampa Bay back to the playoffs, he’d have leverage for an even larger contract. But if he and the team struggle, the Bucs could move on from him and head coach Todd Bowles, perhaps looking in another direction for both key spots. Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has made it clear the team loves Mayfield and wants to keep him in Tampa on a long-term deal, but such a contract would be the largest in franchise history. Recent deals for Tagovailoa, Murray and Watson can show how getting a $200 million deal wrong can damage an NFL franchise, though resetting at the position is not an easy process as well. A four-year extension, though, could also elevate Mayfield’s spot in franchise lore. If he signed such a contract, Mayfield would likely have all the franchise’s major passing records by the time the deal ends. The Buccaneers haven’t had good luck with sustained success from their quarterbacks, which was a big reason why they missed the playoffs 12 years in a row from 2008-19. But they’ve become a playoff mainstay since the turn of the decade, with Mayfield mostly doing his part. And even after missing the playoffs last season, Tampa Bay is still the oddmakers’ favorite to win the NFC South in 2026. It’s clear what both sides ultimately want, though. Mayfield has made it evident he wants to stay in Tampa, where he’s found stability in his career, and his family has found a home, with he and wife Emily welcoming daughter Kova and son Maverick since he arrived. But there was a leverage aspect to Friday’s comments, as Mayfield’s the top quarterback entering a contract year that’s negotiating a huge deal. So, the question now is whether the Buccaneers want to pay enough to sign on for the same stability or take their chances letting the season play out without a new deal. “They know who I am,” Mayfield said Friday. “They know it doesn’t matter what the contract is. It’s not going to change my work ethic, the leadership aspect of it, what I try to bring with guys, trying to elevate everybody. … You worry about giving somebody that much money, if it’s going to change their attitude, how they show up in the building. With me, that’s not the case. They gave me a chance at a point in my career when I really needed it, helped me out, but I think I did the same as well. It’s time to get something done long-term, and I would love to be here long-term.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown says she “generally supports” the recommendations of a regional public safety task force ahead of a potential tax proposal this fall, but her call to prioritize existing resources before determining whether additional…
Nora Andrews of Miss Kenai Fjords was crowned Miss Alaska at the pageant in Anchorage. Autumn Braquet won Miss Alaska’s Teen, and both advance to Miss America competition.
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Nora Andrews and Autumn Braquet
Nora Andrews of Miss Kenai Fjords was crowned Miss Alaska at the pageant in Anchorage. Autumn Braquet won Miss Alaska’s Teen, and both advance to Miss America competition.
(The Center Square) – After a $3.5 billion contract was awarded for track and electrical work on California’s high-speed rail, critics are calling the entire project problematic because of a lack of transparency.
The latest accusations against Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner are leaving fellow Democrats in an uncomfortable holding pattern until Tuesday’s primary.
Some Democrats are wishcasting that Gov. Janet Mills — who suspended her campaign for Senate in April but is still on the ballot — could pull off a shocking upset in the election. Her allies in recent days have reminded supporters that Mills is on the ballot, but she has done no formal campaigning.
Others are putting their hope in an even unlikelier scenario: that Platner will exit the race on his own and allow the state Democratic Party to replace him at its convention in July.
Those wanting him out are praying that a significant protest vote emerges in Tuesday’s primary, where Platner is the only serious candidate still in the race. Platner polled at 76 percent to 10 percent for Mills in a University of New Hampshire poll conducted in late May, shortly before the latest allegations, setting a possible bar to measure how well he does on Tuesday.
“If we see out of the results on Tuesday that Mills was getting a lot more votes than one would think of somebody who suspended their campaign, I think there’s a sign that there’s a lot of protest and angst within the primary voters,” said Adam Cote, a longtime Maine Democrat who faced off with Mills in the 2018 gubernatorial primary and has not endorsed in the Senate race. “And that’s just the primary voters, that’s not even getting to the general election.”
If Platner bleeds a significant number of Democratic voters to Mills it could ramp up pressure on him to drop out of the race, multiple top Democratic strategists told POLITICO on Friday.
But such a scenario would also further deepen divisions in a party that needs to be united to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins this fall. During an appearance on MSNOW Thursday, Platner denied allegations of violence against an ex-girlfriend and reaffirmed his position in the race, saying he has “not once” considered dropping out. He has a scheduled campaign rally Friday night in Bar Harbor.
Many of Platner’s supporters remain on his side and dismissive of a recent New York Times report, painting it as character assassination.
On Thursday, the Times reported that Platner displayed “disturbing” behavior with several former partners. One of the women in the Times report also said Platner knew that his tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol — contrasting his public statements about it — and produced private texts to friends long before he publicly denied the knowledge, stating that he’d told her so.
It has led numerous Democrats to share concern about Platner’s candidacy.
“If he were running in Jersey, he’d either be thrown off the ballot or buried under the Meadowlands,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said Friday, citing the latest allegations. “I think people in Maine should consider a different candidate right now. You know, Janet Mills is still on the ballot. I think people should be voting for another Democrat next week.”
Moderates like Gottheimer who were already not big fans of Platner were in the minority in speaking out publicly to say his past is disqualifying. Behind the scenes, however, there’s growing concern about his viability in November, especially given the importance of turning out moderate, middle-aged women that are a crucial bloc of Maine’s graying electorate.
Maine is the only blue state on Senate Democrats’ target list, and taking it out of play could sink the party’s strategy for flipping the chamber.
“In a seat that we critically need to pick up to have any chance of taking the Senate, this just isn’t good,” said a longtime Democratic fundraiser, granted anonymity to discuss the race candidly. “Doing a last-minute sub might be the best option, or the only option, but it certainly doesn’t give a lot of comfort to those of us who ask people to write checks.”
“If we have to wait till after the primary and hope they can talk him into dropping out … that would appeal to me,” said the fundraiser, who is also a major donor.
A Democratic Party official based in another state said they “don’t see pressure for him to drop out really ratcheting up until after the primary results.”
“That’s when the knives would really come out, especially if there’s another story with more allegations,” the official said.
Still, even among those who are hoping for a switch, there’s growing acceptance Platner probably won’t get on board. Democrats increasingly believe any effort to push him out of the race will have to come from within his supporter network, arguing that Senate Democratic leadership and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has limited leverage to force his hand because he was not the establishment’s pick to begin with.
“There’s pressure on the DSCC to get a different candidate in there,” said a national Democratic strategist working on various Senate campaigns. But “this is not unfortunately something the DSCC can snap their fingers and do.”
The DSCC did not respond to requests for comment.
Two progressive strategists in Platner’s orbit confirmed there have been no discussions about dropping out, and they are confident Platner will be able to mitigate the damage of recent reports by discussing his post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is rallying with Platner in Maine on Friday, said in a statement to POLITICO that Platner “himself has said he was in a dark place after his military service.”
“No one should excuse his past relationships or attack the women who have come forward, but he has accepted responsibility and worked hard to be a better man,” Khanna said. “He understands he was self-absorbed and misogynistic after tours as a frontline infantryman in Iraq. But he spent four years on the ocean as an oyster farmer and got to a better place. We need grace and redemption in America.”
Platner’s supporters have largely rallied around his cause, dismissing the latest reporting as inconsequential when compared to the magnitude of the policy stakes in the race.
“He was a mean boyfriend when he got out of the military and was drinking. Susan Collins was the defining vote for the Big Beautiful Bill,” said Maine state Rep. Valli Geiger, a Platner supporter.
Geiger, who appeared in a campaign ad for the oysterman earlier this year, said she doesn’t know whether Platner will be able to win in November, particularly if “the mainstream press continues to do character assassination for five months.” But she doubted any Democrat could replace him and maintain the grassroots support he has generated, questioning the motives of those focused on negative stories about him.
“They just want to defeat him. They just want to make sure that the status quo remains in place,” she said. “I think the fight’s worth having.”
Adam Wren, Chris Sommerfeldt, Erin Doherty, Shia Kapos and Melanie Mason contributed to this report.
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