When Lovie Smith took over the Buccaneers job, there was a feeling that they were satisfied with the quarterback on hand, Mike Glennon.
But Smith said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine that he thinks a franchise-level quarterback will be available in the seventh spot, and that the Bucs will have to be mindful of that as a possibility.
“I know enough about that draft to know, yeah, there’s someone that would be worthy of the seventh pick because everything is on the board right now,’' Smith said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Whenever you have a chance to get a franchise quarterback, you have to consider that.’'
While Smith and offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford spoke glowingly of Glennon at first, Smith was stepping back a bit from that Thursday.
“Mike did some good things. But he did some good things as a rookie,’' Smith said. “To say right now that Mike is the answer and he’s our quarterback of the future and we’re going to build around him and give him a 20-year contract right now, you’re not there. . . .
“You have a plan. But if you ask me do I think we can win games with Mike Glennon? I’m going to say, “yeah, we can win games with Mike Glennon.’ If you ask me would you like to upgrade the position? I’m not running around the question. That’s a yes, too. If you ask me, would you like a veteran? Yeah. Really, that’s the case. It all has to go together. You have to look at what’s available at other positions, too.’'
At the moment, Glennon and Mike Kafka are the only quarterbacks on the roster, so it makes sense that they’d broaden their scope.
But Smith also went to a Super Bowl with a dominant defense and Rex Grossman at quarterback, so he might be more interested in creating the illusion that they’re drafting a quarterback as opposed to actually pulling the trigger on one in the first round.