Buccaneers Free Agency Spotlight: Quarterback Mike Glennon

As we continue our free agency spotlight series, we look at a familiar face that could return to the Buccaneers as a backup to franchise quarterback Jameis Winston.

The Buccaneers are surely in the market for a backup quarterback as free agency approaches. They could wait for the draft or simply stick with Ryan Griffin, who is already on the roster. But all signs point to a move being made in free agency, right? Tampa Bay could re-sign Ryan Fitzpatrick. But perhaps more interestingly, the team could bring back 2013 third round pick Mike Glennon.

Glennon walked away for an opportunity in Chicago just one year ago, but lost his starting spot to Mitch Trubisky early in the 2017 season. The Bears will be moving forward with Trubisky as a franchise cornerstone, meaning it doesn’t make sense to keep Glennon under such a pricey contract to be a backup. They will save $11.5 million by releasing him this offseason. For their current situation, that’s a no-brainer. Could a homecoming be in the works for the 28-year-old?

Mike Glennon’s Career

Buccaneer fans should be very familiar with Glennon’s NFL career. He was drafted in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Bucs, who already had Josh Freeman on the roster. Of course, just four weeks into his rookie season, Glennon took over the starting role from Freeman. He finished his first season 4-9 as a starter with 2,608 passing yards and nineteen touchdowns to nine interceptions. He showed promise, but once head coach Greg Schiano was fired at the end of the season, plans changed.

New head coach Lovie Smith came in and signed veteran Josh McCown to be the starter for the 2014 season. He did proclaim Glennon as the team’s future, which is why Tampa Bay reportedly turned down multiple trade offers for Glennon in that year’s draft. He saw action in just six games that season, but played fairly well. The team as a whole, though, was a dumpster fire. A 2-14 record led to the top pick in the 2015 draft, which of course the Bucs used on current franchise guy Jameis Winston.

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Over the next two years, Glennon played in just two games. His contract expired after the 2016 season, but the Bucs tried to bring him back as the league’s highest-paid backup. He wanted to be a starter, though, so he chose to sign a three-year, $45 million contract with the Bears. Things didn’t work out for the North Carolina State product. After just four starts, he lost his starting job to 2017 second overall pick Mitch Trubisky and now appears to be on his way out of Chicago as a cap casualty.

Why the Buccaneers Need Him

Tampa Bay is in need of a proven backup quarterback. Ryan Fitzpatrick served as the team’s backup during the 2017 season. He did a fine job, but his contract expired at the end of the season. Fitzpatrick remains an option for the Bucs, as does selecting a quarterback in the later rounds of April’s draft. But the wild card of the situation is Ryan Griffin.

Griffin has been on the Tampa Bay roster since 2015 as the third-string quarterback. He has yet to see time in a regular season game, but it has long been reported that the Bucs like him a lot. Could they like him enough to give him a backup spot despite the fact that his only NFL action has been in the preseason? That doesn’t seem likely, but it could be possible.

The biggest reason the Bucs would need to add a backup quarterback rather than stick with Griffin is the Uber investigation surrounding their starting quarterback. There doesn’t appear to be loads of evidence against Jameis Winston and it could prove to be difficult to find any clarity in the situation. However, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell proved with last year’s Ezekiel Elliott case that he won’t take accusations lightly. Now, whether you agree with Elliott’s suspension or not, the precedent was set. Regardless of whether or not any evidence presents itself in Winston’s case, some sort of suspension could be coming.

With that in mind, who better to bring in than a guy like Glennon? He knows the system, already has a connection established with star receiver Mike Evans and is familiar with the Bucs’ locker room and Tampa Bay as a whole. Fitzpatrick has some of the same qualities, but Glennon has a longer history with the team. The team’s current regime didn’t draft him, but they still know him well and like him. There’s a reason they offered him that contract last offseason, right?

What Will Glennon Cost?

It’s hard to project exactly what Glennon’s market value would be considering he isn’t a free agent yet. The number definitely won’t be anything close to what his current contract is. The Bucs reportedly were offering him $8 million per year last offseason, but it’s possible that his value has gone down since then. The market shouldn’t be too extensive, so Tampa Bay shouldn’t have to shell out too much. Unless there’s a quarterback-needy team out there ready to pay Glennon starter money, the Bucs should be able to bring him in on a reasonable contract. Something like $3-5 million per year seems to make sense.

Will it Happen?

Yes. Bears general manager Ryan Pace said on Wednesday that Mike Glennon will be released at the start of the new league year. Once that happens, it’s highly likely that there will be a mutual interest between him and the Bucs. Considering the potential of a suspension for Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay must have a plan. The Bucs can’t afford to experiment with Ryan Griffin for however long a suspension would be. Of course, there’s always the concern for injury too (knock on wood). With Dirk Koetter and Jason Licht having a year to get things together, they won’t bank on Griffin. Glennon is a known commodity and given his familiarity with the Bucs and their offense, he should be a reliable backup option. The mutual interest will be there and the cost won’t be too high. This definitely feels like a move the Bucs will make.

Next: Buccaneers Round Table: Three free agency predictions

Let us know what you’d think about bringing Glennon back and be sure to keep following along as we dive into more free agents all the way up until legal tampering begins on March 12.