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Inside Baker Mayfield’s Financial Playbook: Startups, Lawsuits, and Big Swings
Welcome to Gridiron Wallet — where NFL players don’t just chase rings, they chase bags. From million-dollar grills to side hustles that slap, we’re decoding how football’s finest make it, spend it, and sometimes… fumble it. 🏈🔥
The latest edition of our newsletter covers Baker Mayfield:
Equity Stakes & Venture Vehicles
Other Venture Exposures and Business Plays by Mayfield
Real Estate Moves & Financial Disputes
✍️Paper Play
Equity Stakes & Venture Vehicles
Baker Mayfield’s journey to become a bona fide Pro Bowl quarterback in the NFL has been convoluted to say the least. A Heisman winner, he began his career in the league as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft. But his career took a nose-dive over the next few years as he bounced from the Browns to the Panthers and the Rams.
But then, things popped right back after he became the successor to Tom Brady at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since taking over in 2023, Mayfield has gone 21-15 in the regular season. He also secured a playoff game in his first season and has been named to the Pro Bowl in back-to-back seasons. Mayfield looks on track for a third if the first two weeks of this season are any indication.
As things stand, Mayfield is certainly knocking on that ‘top five QB’ conversation. And he’s doing it all on the biggest bargain of a contract in the league. After his surprise success in 2023, Mayfield signed a three-year, $100 million deal in 2024.
That means he’s making about $33.33 million a year, which ranks 19th among QBs in the NFL. Nineteenth!
Last year, the other Pro Bowl QBs were Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Sam Darnold, and Jayden Daniels. The first four make $50 million or more a year, and even Darnold is pulling in more than Mayfield this season ($33.5 million).
But despite his comparatively low salary, Mayfield isn’t fretting about his finances. By the end of this three-year deal (which is up after the 2026 campaign), he will have made over $170 million in career NFL earnings. Like many of his NFL peers, though, he’s hoping that his NFL income ends up as a mere drop in his financial bucket.
Mayfield has been diversifying his investment portfolio in recent years. One of his earliest bets was in Legends Clothing. He was one of the first investors in the clothing brand founded by Scott Hochstadt. After bringing in around $16 million in revenue in 2021, the company has since exploded, hitting an estimated $100 million in revenue in 2023.
The QB has also launched his own investment company, Camwood Ventures, alongside his father, James, and brother, Matt. Together, they identify and invest in high-potential start-ups that could benefit from a partnership with Mayfield’s brand.
One of those startups is the CBD brand called Beam, which offers THC-free CBD and wellness products. Mayfield has joined the company both as an investor and brand partner.
Mayfield will sign another large deal in 2027, no doubt. So this could just be the beginning of his investment career.
🏈 ✨Dream Scheme
Other Venture Exposures and Business Plays by Mayfield
Through Camwood Ventures, Baker Mayfield has backed multiple companies. Examples include Cabana Club, Progress Coffee, High Desert, Superstition, Goodmylk, Legends, PumpJack DataWorks, etc. These are smaller, growth-stage, or lifestyle/consumer brands.
Camwood was founded by Baker’s father in 2018. But by 2024, it didn’t feel like a family venture at all. Baker ended up suing his father’s company for a whole lot of money. More on that later.
In 2019, while with the Browns, Mayfield teamed up with Where I’m From, a sports/apparel company that licenses merchandise connected to his personal brand. This was a business venture where Mayfield’s name was central, and the company licensed many shirts that highlighted him and his famous quotes.
One shirt, for instance, reads, “Woke Up Feeling Dangerous,” with the QB’s signature underneath. Another says, “If You’re Not With Us In Cleveland, You’re Against Us.” It really captures the hype that surrounded him at the start of his career.
Baker was also involved in the startup/app ecosystem through Camwood Ventures with Wave EarBuds. They are a lesser-talked-about brand, although publicly known. In 2020, he decided to make them a part of his investment portfolio.
It all just goes to show how active an investor Mayfield has been throughout his NFL career. His portfolio shows he has an interest in a wide range of industries. He has also leveraged his reach through football to ensure he’s the brand ambassador for those companies.
Even though he ran into a bit of a financial hiccup last year with his father in court, it shouldn’t stop him from continuing to invest in the future.
💡 Gridiron Wallet Trivia
Did you know?
🌿 Baker Mayfield earned over $48 million from his rookie contract after being drafted No. 1 overall in 2018—but made nearly as much from endorsements, including a major deal with Progressive Insurance. His “At Home with Baker Mayfield” ads became so popular, they ran for three seasons, even when he switched teams.
💸Side Plays
Real Estate Moves & Financial Disputes
Baker Mayfield’s career comeback in Tampa Bay isn’t just confined to the gridiron. Off it, the quarterback has been making some very measured moves with his money. Some flashy, some smart, and some that have brought unexpected drama into his life.
For instance, not long after inking his $100 million deal with the Buccaneers, Mayfield, like many athletes, gravitated toward Davis Islands, the waterfront enclave that’s home to some of the city’s most expensive properties.
First, he purchased a $3.8 million plot there, which was widely expected to be cleared for new construction. Then, right next door, he secured a $9.4 million waterfront mansion, a 5,000-square-foot West Indies–style estate with four bedrooms, six bathrooms, an infinity pool, a private dock, and sunset views that look like something straight out of a postcard.
Mayfield’s real estate journey didn’t start in Florida, though. It began in Westlake, Ohio, where he picked up a home in 2018 for around $750,000, right after he was drafted by the Browns.
Fast forward to 2023, and that same property was sold for nearly $950,000 in less than two weeks after being put on the market. While it wasn’t a headline-grabbing move like the ones he made in Tampa, it was a tidy profit nonetheless. More importantly, it was a sign that the QB knew when to move on.
Then there is that financial dispute that caused quite a bit of ‘not so positive’ headlines around Mayfield. We are talking about the Camwood Capital Management lawsuit against his father, James Mayfield, and brother, Matt Mayfield.
Baker and his wife, Emily, alleged that nearly $12 million was siphoned from their accounts between 2018 and 2021 without consent. By January 2025, the two sides agreed to a settlement that required $11.74 million plus interest to be repaid. But according to filings, not a single payment has been made yet. It was quite the story at the time, given that the legal battle was within the family.
For Baker Mayfield, more than the financial loss, the bigger sting must have been of betrayal. It’s also a reminder that even success comes with heavy personal costs.
Putting this all together, Mayfield’s financial moves show two sides of the same coin: Luxury purchases and long-term investments on one hand, and an ongoing fight to protect what’s his on the other.
It’s a balancing act that, in its own way, mirrors his career: Bold plays, occasional setbacks, and everyone watching to see what happens next.
📆 NFL Money Stat of the 1910s
In the 1910s—before the NFL officially formed in 1920—pro football players were paid as little as $10 per game, often in cash after games. Teams like the Canton Bulldogs and Massillon Tigers would occasionally offer stars up to $250 for a big game, but most players held regular jobs and played football on weekends for extra money.