Paying franchise players what they're worth, has been the bane of general managers for decades, no matter the sport. Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek tried to play hardball with number one center and franchise player, Leo Carlsson, over the offseason. The strong-arm tactics almost cost the Ducks their heir apparent to Ryan Getzlaf and when the dust finally settled from the Philadelphia Flyers offer sheet fiasco, Carlsson was $90 million richer, and Verbeek's tough negotiation tactics backfired.
But Verbeek was not the only GM immune to facing down the potential loss of a franchise player this summer either. Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM, Jason Licht, has taken a similar stance to that of Verbeek, by trying to play hardball with his franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield. And while Mayfield still has a year left on his current contract, the clock has started ticking ever quicker on the inevitable resolution.
Even though both Carlsson and Mayfield play in different sports, parallels can be drawn between their roles with their respective teams, contract situations, and what lessons should be learned from the fallout of tough negotiations.
Center vs. quarterback
In hockey, there is a case to be made that goaltender may be the most important position on the ice, just ask Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. However, the goalie is not the player on the ice cycling the puck in the offensive zone and creating scoring chances for the team either. If we remove goalie from the equation, then the next logical step for the most important player on the ice is center. A look at the list of recent Stanley Cup winners presents the best argument for this assumption; Sebastian Aho with the Hurricanes, Aleksander Barkov with the Panthers, Jack Eichel with the Golden Knights, and Nathan MacKinnon with the Avalanche. You'd be hard pressed to find a Stanley Cup champion team without a defined number one center. Quibble about Carlsson's hierarchy within the NHL all you want, he is a number one center and outside of the performance from Lukas Dostal in net, the Ducks will go as far as Carlsson can take them.
Quarterbacks within the NFL are arguably the most important players for their respective teams too and have the largest impact on the outcome of games. It's why teams like the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and the New England Patriots with Tom Brady, can sustain championship windows for years on end, while teams like the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns have become synonymous with losing. The NFL is a league of haves and have nots; either your favorite team has a good quarterback, or they don't and the on-field results will dictate the caliber of play. Remove Mayfield from the Bucs and they become a lottery team again. Remove Carlsson from the Ducks, and they would undoubtedly become a lottery team again also. Neither franchise wants to be in that position again though, especially after having recent postseason appearances.
Butting heads
Carlsson and his agents, used their leverage against Verbeek and the Ducks. Carlsson was coming off a career best season in 2025-26, in which the Ducks made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Even though the young center may have been an RFA, he still had the ability to sign an offer sheet. While Verbeek could have resolved the Carlsson contract situation months prior, he let the dispute spiral into the offer sheet with the Flyers and was forced into paying Carlsson more than market value. As of right now, Carlsson is not the second-best player in the entirety of the NHL, like his cap hit would suggest. With only a handful of centers arguably better than Carlsson though and the odds of drafting another high-end center prospect with the same kind of upside low, Carlsson is getting paid to be the number one center he is and will hopefully continue to develop into.
Mayfield started the 2025-26 season hot for the Buccaneers and was in the early conversations for MVP. But after sustaining injuries throughout the rest of the season, Mayfield's play cratered and when the Bucs limped off the field winless against the Carolina Panthers in the regular season finale, it felt like a lost opportunity. However, when healthy, Mayfield can guide the Bucs into the postseason, as he did in 2023 and 2024. Is Mayfield worth a $40 million+ contract to keep in Tampa? Probably not, but, knowing his value to the team, Mayfield set the deadline for an extension for the start of training camp. The deadline came and went, and now the Bucs enter the new season with questions about their future with the quarterback position. And much like Carlsson, Baker knows the Bucs would be unable to find another quarterback in the free agent market that is more capable than him in the short term.
Fallout
Once Verbeek and the Ducks matched the offer sheet and signed Carlsson to the $18 million AAV contract, the cap situation took a serious blow. Per Puckpedia, the Ducks have just a shade over $9 million in available cap space. However, another problem has surfaced, as the Ducks leading goal scorer from last season, Cutter Gauthier, is still without a new contract. If the recent rumors are to be believed, Verbeek will have to clear even more cap space for Gauthier. And that's without Beckett Sennecke in need of a new contract next offseason.
Mayfield enters the 2026 NFL season in yet another "prove it" situation. If he can replicate his early 2025 form, stay on the field, and carry the Bucs into the postseason again; Licht will either have to give Mayfield a substantial raise to his current $26 million cap hit or trade him, in the hope of recouping some kind of value in return. But the strong-arm tactics don't end with the Mayfield contract situation either, as defensive tackle Vita Vea is also looking for a raise to stay in Tampa Bay. Vea is a core piece for the Bucs, much like Gauthier for the Ducks, and the reluctance to commit to one of best tackles in the NFL is baffling. Licht also took a hard stance earlier this year with veteran wide receiver and long-time fan favorite, Mike Evans, who was unable to secure a new contract and signed with the 49ers instead, ending one of the most historic runs in Tampa Bay.
Get it together
Attention professional sports GMs; get your acts together. There was no reason for Carlsson to be on the precipice of moving on to a different team and now the Ducks are faced with the challenge of moving out a veteran player or two, to keep a young core featuring Gauthier and Sennecke intact.
There was no reason for Mayfield not be signed before the start of the NFL season either. Licht and the Bucs now have a season to decide the on the future on the franchise. Verbeek may have bent against his will in the end, but the Ducks made the right move. Now the Bucs must follow suit to keep their core intact.
The era of nickel and diming core players should be over. The McDavid and Crosby extensions are the exceptions, not the rule. Don't throw away the future of your franchise over petty squabbles.
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