Buccaneers: How the offense looks with 3 free agent QB’s

The Jameis Winston saga continues to be a murky situation. Here is what the offense for the Buccaneers would look like with various free agents at the helm.

The offense for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a mixed bag with Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback. On a good drive, the offense is unstoppable with great play across the unit while other drives leave much to be desired.

There has been a lot of speculation that the Buccaneers will look to sign a free agent quarterback to potentially go along with a rookie draft pick.

The offense could have many different potential identities depending on which quarterback will be under center to start the 2020 season.

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Philip Rivers

If the Buccaneers were to let Jameis Winston walk the most likely free agent signing would be Philip Rivers.

It has been often discussed that Rivers has recently moved his family to Florida, albeit up in the panhandle. Despite the distance between North Florida and Tampa Bay, Philip Rivers was almost immediately linked to the Buccaneers.

Philip Rivers would be a very expensive acquisition but would be one of the better free agents for the Bucs to bring in if they want a rookie to get some experience.

The offense itself would go through a pretty sizable identity change if this were to happen. Rivers would likely throw way fewer interceptions than Winston but also fewer touchdowns.

It is also incredibly likely that Rivers would get sacked more than Jameis Winston as he has always lacked the mobility and ability to improvise that Winston possesses.

Rivers is almost the polar opposite of Jameis Winston in that the former is a high-floor/low-ceiling player while the latter is a low-floor/high-ceiling player. At his best Rivers will not be better than Jameis at his best but by the same token at his worst Rivers is not as bad as Jameis.

The Bucs would also have to start pushing for a more defined run game and offensive line to reduce the reliance on the pass that the Bucs have been known for during the past few seasons.

The Buccaneers would likely see a downtick in offensive success with Rivers at the helm despite the plethora of weapons that the team already has. Rivers is already leaving a very well rounded and deep offense and he didn’t wow anyone in 2019.