The Buccaneers need to find a new starting quarterback. And they’re casting a fairly wide net.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times recently reported that the Bucs have evaluated roughly eight quarterbacks on film. The list includes Baker Mayfield of the Browns.
That would be a stunning move, one that necessarily means the Browns will trade Mayfield and, in turn, find another quarterback. The Browns are one of the various teams linked to Deshaun Watson.
Mayfield has a guaranteed salary of $18.8 million in 2022, the fifth-year option to his first-round rookie contract.
The Bucs also are interested in Watson, one of three NFC South teams considering the move (along with the Saints and Panthers). Two years ago, Teddy Bridgewater was supposedly the Plan B to Tom Brady; Bridgewater could be back on the radar screen.
Tampa Bay is an attractive destination. The team has a solid roster, and the right quarterback will keep the Buccaneers firmly in the conversation of the NFC elite franchises.
There’s another very important angle to the next move, one that some ardent Buccaneers fans would rather not entertain. If/when the Buccaneers make a big move for a veteran quarterback, the team would be far less inclined to welcome back Tom Brady.
That would make it easier for Brady to engineer his exit to a new team, if that’s what he wants.