Buccaneers: Bruce Arians not tipping his hand about QB situation
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians isn’t giving any type of vibe of which he is leaning when it comes the quarterback situation this offseason.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians met with the media Thursday afternoon following a speaking engagement at the NFL-NCAA Coaches Academy in Tampa.
Arians fielded a ton of questions on the Buccaneers’ moves in the 2020 offseason, as well other intriguing topics pertaining to the NFL in the future.
Following the outing, it was clear that Arians wasn’t about to tip his hand on how he truly feels about the quarterback situation or give any insight into what the Buccaneers are leaning towards doing as we approach the midway point of February.
I just asked Bruce Arians if he felt closer to getting clarity on their QB situation: “No, because you don’t know who’s available. You’re just sitting and waiting to see is there someone available? And is he a better option? That’s the problem. You get about three days to decide”
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) February 13, 2020
Bruce Arians on getting closer to a decision at the QB position since he last spoke to the media: “Really, nothing’s changed...what’s Door Number Two?” Still too soon to know what all the options are.
— Scott Smith (@ScottSBucs) February 13, 2020
Arians said it’s still hard to evaluate the team’s options at QB because they still don’t know who will be available. Coaches are going through scenarios, who they’d like if they were available, including Winston of course.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 13, 2020
Many Buccaneers fans took Arians’ quotes as a way of saying he is ready is to move on from Jameis Winston, but honestly it seems more like he is trying to figure out all the options and maintain as much leverage as possible moving forward.
More Arians on QB decisions: “Is somebody else going to get let go? What’s the trade values? It’s really monotonous right now because you don’t have any answers. (Scenarios like) if this guy happens, if that guy, we would take him, we would take him, we’re keeping our guy.”
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 13, 2020
Arians hasn’t been as confident about wanting to bring Winston back as he has with the current defensive free-agents (ie Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul), but he really is just saying that the organization is exploring all of its options.
After speaking at the NFL-NCAA Coaches Academy in Tampa, Bruce Arians said he remains eager to keep as many of the team’s defensive free agents as possible. Wants to continue what happened in last 8 games.
— Scott Smith (@ScottSBucs) February 13, 2020
Arians said that he doesn’t believe there will be many veteran QB free-agents available on the open market. As of now, the only two true options outside of Winston for the Buccaneers seem like Philip Rivers or Teddy Bridgewater, who may want too much to bring in.
In addition to the quarterback situation and expressing a desire to bring back the defensive free-agents, Arians touched on several other points:
- He thinks the NFL will move to a 17-game regular season with three preseason games, but that likely won’t happen until after 2022.
- He is trying to add a third female coach to the staff.
- Arians didn’t want to comment on Winston’s LASIK eye surgery because that is “personal business.”
It will be interesting to see what happens during these next few weeks heading into free-agency and the franchise tag deadline.
Arians and the Buccaneers are obviously considering all options and have a desire to strengthen the franchise with a successful offseason.