The Buccaneers have three quarterbacks on their roster, but only one that is a real starter. If Tom Brady goes down, the Bucs could be in trouble.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are as ready for a playoff push as the franchise has been in decades. The stars have aligned, the roster is set, and the Bucs are starting to make some waves during the offseason as contenders.
The most significant move that has caused this new level of hype is the arrival of Tom Brady. Brady is, by almost every account, the greatest quarterback of all time, and even now, he can elevate a team offensively.
The one problem with Brady, though, is his age. The Bucs will always worry over keeping their starting quarterback healthy for the entire season, and every hit will leave the staff and the fanbase on the edge of their seats until Brady stands up again.
The best way to alleviate this problem is to find a capable backup for Brady, and currently, the Bucs don’t have one. Blaine Gabbert may know the system and Ryan Griffin may be a fun story to follow, but neither has the arm or the ability to lead this team to the playoffs. The Bucs will have to look elsewhere if they want to find a guaranteed option to lead in the event of an injury to Brady.
If the Buccaneers were to add any of these five options, their Super Bowl hopes would remain alive even if an injury befalls Brady.
Without having to trade or break the bank, the Bucs could add free agent Blake Bortles to their roster and have one of the most reliable quarterback rooms in the NFL.
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Some fans may be quick to dismiss Bortles after last season as a backup in LA behind Jared Goff, but Bortles had an under-appreciated career during his five seasons with the Jaguars.
Over his time as a starter, Bortles posted 17,646 passing yards, 103 touchdowns against 75 interceptions, and 1,775 rushing yards with eight touchdowns.
There were times where Bortles was far from flashy, but there is no argument statistically that Bortles is worse than Gabbert. Gabbert has struggled more with injuries, is older, and is far less athletic than Bortles.
The Buccaneers could easily cut Gabbert, add Bortles, and not be on the hook for any more money while also having a vastly improved backup.
Bortles wouldn’t challenge Brady for the starting job, but he would be a clear improvement over any of the backups currently on the roster. Even in his worst seasons as a starter, Bortles was still clearly better than Gabbert, and for this reason, the Bucs should consider making a change.
Colin Kaepernick is a name that has already been mentioned in relation to the Buccaneers, as the fit could be perfect for both parties.
For starters, Kaepernick also blows Blaine Gabbert’s stats out of the water. It isn’t even close. Kaepernick led a team to the Super Bowl and was one of the most accomplished scrambling quarterbacks of the past decade, and the narrative that he was subpar during his career is false in every account.
The next rebuttal that fans will rush to post is that he immediately becomes a locker room distraction on any team that signs him. If taking a knee during the National Anthem is seen as a distraction in 2020, then every team in the league will need to prepare for this.
The vast majority of the NFL is prepared to kneel this year, and to let a player of Kaepernick’s talent go to another team for something that is already going to happen in Tampa Bay makes no sense.
Even with his break from football considered, Gabbert coming off of an injury at the top of his game doesn’t inspire as much confidence as a healthy Kaepernick that will play with a renewed fire if given a chance to do so.
Kaepernick may not be as familiar with the system as Gabbert, but his skill set makes him a better candidate to play in Bruce Arians’ offense than the current backups.
Josh Rosen has been dealt a bad hand with his career. After becoming a lame duck for two teams, Rosen now sits buried on a depth chart with a tough path ahead to every become a starting NFL quarterback again.
While fans likely think that a player that was moved on from twice during his rookie deal can’t be good, there are several important factors to take into account.
First, Rosen has never played behind a decent offensive line during his time in the NFL. Much like Jameis Winston, Bucs fans should be aware of how difficult it is for a quarterback to succeed when he is running for his life after every snap.
On the other hand, Rosen has also struggled at times. He has never popped as a starter, but given that he has played less than two full seasons as a starter, it is far too soon to label him a bust yet.
As Bucs fans also painfully know, teams can move on from good quarterbacks, and they go on to fantastic success. Getting cut or traded early is not getting lowered into the coffin, although it does make the path back more difficult. Steve Young is an important name to remember. Still stings. Enough said.
Playing at his worst, Rosen has played comparably to Gabbert, but his ceiling is far higher. The Bucs may not be trading for their future franchise player, but bringing in Josh Rosen for cheap helps the Bucs if Brady does go down.
Brian Hoyer is basically a better version of Blaine Gabbert. Hoyer wouldn’t be the most exciting option, but he is a clear improvement for the backup situation, and as a former teammate of Brady’s, his stock rises slightly.
Throughout both of their journeymen careers, Hoyer has a higher completion percentage and a higher touchdown rate than Gabbert. Both have started a similar number of games, and both have bounced around the league as backups.
As previously stated, Hoyer may not be exciting, but he would give the Bucs a better chance to stay on a Super Bowl pace if Brady goes down. Gabbert is recently coming off of an injury and is a wildcard this year. The Bucs can’t afford to take chances like that, and Hoyer would be the safer bet.
Hoyer would be a comparable price to Gabbert, but his improved level of play across his career shows that this position could still use an upgrade in Tampa Bay.
This move also makes some sense to pull off as the Patriots already have two quarterbacks on their roster that will compete for the first and second spots in Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham. Hoyer is far too good to be the third quarterback on any roster, and the Patriots will likely look to trade him now that they are overpaying for a QB3, and the Buccaneers should jump on the opportunity.
The Buccaneers would have to get creative in a trade, but bringing Nick Mullens to the roster could be beneficial to everyone involved.
It’s no shock that the 49ers love Mullens, especially after his impressive and unlikely stretch during 2018 when Jimmy Garoppolo went down, but the 49ers have two quality backups, and they will only need one because of money. The Bucs would have to give up a pick, but it could pay off in an unforeseen way.
During 2018, Mullens completed 64.2 percent of his passes and was playing at a pace that would have ended around 4,500 passing yards. The 49ers seem locked into their future with Garoppolo, and keeping Mullens on the team will be hard, especially with C.J. Beathard on the roster as a capable and cheaper backup.
Tampa Bay could bring in Mullens to be one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league, but they can also feel out if he could be the next franchise quarterback. It may seem like a stretch, but Mullens has already proved that he can succeed in the NFL, and that 49ers team was far less talented than the Buccaneers are now.
Even if it is just a long shot, trading a pick for a player with Mullens’ short track record is a risk worth taking, especially with a Super Bowl on the line.