Now that Tom Brady has officially retired from the NFL (for now) where does he rank in Buccaneers history at the quarterback position?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had quite an intriguing or even unique history when it comes to the quarterback position. In their two Super Bowl championships in their franchise history, Tom Brady was the quarterback for one, the undisputed GOAT of GOATs, and the other was one with Brad Johnson under center. Talk about running spectrum.
However, other than these two periods, the Bucs as a franchise have been almost cursed when it comes to the quarterback position. It’s not that they’ve picked the wrong ones to choose per se, it’s just that they have always been a team with many holes to fill other than the most important position. They have always been a franchise always looking for that one player to fix everything, and turn the ship around when in reality it takes a whole crew.
Even in their most successful periods, other than the aforementioned Super Bowl title runs, the quarterback position left much to be desired. The other quarterbacks to start playoff games for the Bucs haven’t exactly been a Mount Rushmore.
With that said let’s take a look at the top ten quarterbacks in the history of the Buccaneers, and where Brady ranks, for no other reason than we need a good laugh.
Steve DeBerg (1984-1987, 1992-1993)
We almost put Brian Griese in this spot for his 2005 season alone, but unfortunately, Griese got injured before the Bucs could taste the fruits of his labors which lead to Chris Simms starting the playoff game. We went with Steve DeBerg for the longevity factor. “Well, what about Steve Young?” Some of you may be saying. Well, Young was a Hall of Famer with the San Francisco 49ers because they saved his career from the dark and downward abyss that was his time in Tampa Bay.
Yes, the comedy of all four of these passers being mentioned in the number ten spot on this list is not lost on us. That’s the Buccaneers quarterback history in a nutshell. Buckle up, buckaroos because we’re starting with cannons firing.
DeBerg with the Bucs was essentially Archie Manning with the New Orleans Saints. DeBerg was a talented quarterback, he just took an absolute beating thanks to a crummy roster while the supposed heir apparent was waiting in the wings. Of course, those “heir apparents” were Vinny Testaverde, Young, and Craig Erickson but that’s beside the point.
While DeBerg was 8-29 as a starter, he did throw for 9,439 yards and 61 touchdowns, so he did his best. Starting the list with DeBerg means we can only go up from here, but fair warning, we aren’t going too far up yet.
Jeff Garcia (2007-2008)
Quick trivia question. Who was the last quarterback to start a playoff game for the Buccaneers before Tom Brady? The answer is Jeff Garcia during the 2007 season. Garcia’s 2007 season is also one of only FOUR Pro Bowl seasons for a Bucs quarterback (spoiler alert: we’ll get to the others).
After miraculously leading the Philadelphia Eagles to an NFC East title in the 2006 season in relief of the injured Donovan McNabb, the Buccaneers signed Garcia on this writer’s birthday of March 3rd to be their starter. Garcia would lead the Bucs to an NFC South title but would fall to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the Wild Card round.
The following year, Garcia would be banged up leading to Jon Gruden choosing a “quarterback by committee” approach with the murder’s row of Garcia, Brian Griese, and Luke McCown.
Amazingly, the Bucs (primarily lead by Garcia) were sitting at 9-3, but would drip their final four games in spectacular fashion, missing out on the playoffs in the final week of the season, ironically against the Raiders, in what proved to be both Garcia (who would sign with the Raiders that offseason) and Gruden’s final games in Tampa Bay.
While it may be a little tough to honor Garcia in such a way, especially with some recent remarks, that’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to the quarterback position for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For two years, he was pretty solid, comparatively speaking of course.
Shaun King (1999-2003)
Admittedly, this writer is a much bigger fan of Shaun King than he probably has any right to be. That said, King absolutely deserves a spot on this list.
King was drafted by his hometown Bucs in the second round of the 1999 Draft (very Trask-like…) and would eventually take over for an injured Trent Dilfer that season (more on that later). With King under center (and aided by a historically great defense) the Buccaneers would get all the way to the NFC Championship game against the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams.
With 52 seconds left and the ball on the Rams’ 36-yard line, the Buccaneers found themselves with a 2nd and 23. King took the snap from shotgun and threw an absolute dart to Bert Emanuel who caught the ball at the Rams’ 23-yard line to set up a manageable 3rd and 10 in four-down territory, or so we thought. At the time, the rules stated that if the ball touched the ground at any point, regardless of control, the pass was incomplete. It’s up for debate on whether the ball actually hit the ground, but for what it’s worth the NFL came out after the game and stated that the call was incorrect. Long story short, the Rams stopped the Buccaneers on 3rd and 23, then once more on a 4th and 23 hail mary to the end zone that essentially ended the game and the Buccaneers Super Bowl hopes by way of an 11-6 defeat. You read that correctly.
The NFL as we know it could have been much different had that call gone a different way.
King’s best season would be his only as a full-time starter in 2000, when the Bucs went 10-6, ultimately getting shellacked by the Eagles 21-3 in the Wild Card round in a game that wasn’t even that close.
The thing was, despite his best season, King only threw for 2,769 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while adding five rushing touchdowns. The Buccaneers would bring in Brad Johnson, and King would become a backup quarterback in the NFL. For where the team got with King at quarterback, he deserves a spot here.
Trent Dilfer (1994-1999)
Trent Dilfer over Shaun King may be a bit of a lightning rod debate for their spots on the list. Some may disagree with Dilfer over King since King took over for an injured Dilfer and got the Bucs to the NFC Championship during the 1999 season when Dilfer only got as far as the divisional round.
While that is a fair point, Dilfer was a more polished passer. Trent Dilfer vs. Shaun King. Only in Tampa Bay folks.
The thing was, the 1999 Bucs defense may have been better than the 2002 unit that won Super Bowl XXXVII, and it begs the question of what could have been had Dilfer not been hurt in 1999 and was able to play against the Rams. (A future What-If article?) In all seriousness though, Dilfer’s injury sidelined him for King, but the Bucs still let their 1994 sixth overall pick walk in free agency in favor of King, because his inconsistent play was doing him no favors.
That doesn’t mean we can’t focus on the positives. Dilfer took the Bucs to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years during the 1997 season and earned himself a Pro Bowl birth. Dilfer’s 38 career wins are also still the most ever by a Buccaneers starting quarterback. Let that sink in. He also threw a punch at John Randle in the middle of a game in 1995. That alone should hold him in higher esteem.
Vinny Testaverde (1987-1992)
When the Bucs were in their “Yucks” era they desperately tried to find that one magical player that would turn everything around. The decision to draft Vinny Testaverde with the number one overall selection in the 1987 NFL Draft is the prime A1 example of this.
The thing about Testaverde is, he was a talented player, but he also benefited from a phenomenal situation in college, but a terrible one in the NFL. At the University of Miami, he was the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for “The U” which was an absolute freight train from hell that steamrolled the competition in the 1980s. The thing was, Testaverde had an incredible team around him, but his five interceptions (four to linebackers) in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl cost the Hurricanes the national title. Despite how his college career ended, the Bucs thought they had their man to take them into the future.
After blowing a perfect college situation, Testaverde stepped into a horrible NFL situation. No matter how talented, it’s almost impossible for a quarterback to carry a franchise on their back, especially one as pitiful as the Buccaneers in those days. When a young quarterback doesn’t have anyone or anything around him to make him better, his confidence collapses. That is exactly what happened to Testaverde.
Testaverde never found his mojo with the Bucs, or really the rest of his career despite playing in the NFL for what seemed like an eternity. He did however end up taking the New York Jets (the JETS) of all teams to the AFC Championship in 1998. The middle of the list is a perfect spot for Vinny. Talented player, bad situation.
Josh Freeman (2009-2013)
Oh, what could have been. At number five it’s number five, Josh Freeman. During the 2010 season, the Buccaneers finished 10-6 under second-year head coach Raheem Morris who found himself under immense pressure replacing Jon Gruden. His second-year quarterback was Freeman who was looking every bit like the player fans thought he could be when Morris and company made him the 17th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Bucs missed out on the playoffs thanks to a tie-breaker with the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, which means the NFL world could have been a whole lot different had Freeman won just one more game. (The “What-If’s” keep coming so we’re all winners with this). Then the wheels fell off. The team roof caved in on the team the next year and Morris was fired.
Enter Greg Schiano.
To say the Freeman-Schiano partnership was a roller coaster would be the understatement of the century. There was some alleged locker room and off-the-field shenanigans from both parties, which resulted in an ugly on-the-field product. Thus ended a once-promising career in Tampa Bay.
Amazingly, Freeman’s 14,820 yards were second all-time in the team’s history while his 80 touchdowns were good enough for the all-time lead after his unceremonious exit from the Bucs. Given that this is the Bucs, his resume is good enough for a top-five spot on this list.
Brad Johnson (2001-2004)
Brad Johnson was signed by the Buccaneers in 2001 to replace quarterback Shaun King in an attempt to finally take the Buccaneers over the hump.
As a quarterback, Johnson was never going to light up the stat sheet or be anyone’s fantasy football starter, but he was the perfect quarterback to compliment a legendary defense. He didn’t take any unnecessary risks and he didn’t make many mistakes. Signing with the Bucs at the ripe old age of 32, Johnson proved to be exactly what the Buccaneers needed.
Johnson is consistently listed, along with former Buccaneers quarterback Trent Dilfer, as among the worst quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl. The thing that’s easy to forget is that in the Buccaneers 2002 Super Bowl season, Johnson was a Pro Bowler, throwing 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions, and even went on to win the Quarterback Challenge that year (sidenote: the league HAS to bring those back). The wheels would eventually fall off for Johnson in Tampa Bay, but he did have three straight 3,000 yard seasons and was the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers’ first-ever Super Bowl win. For that reason alone, he needs to be on this list.
PS, if you haven’t seen Johnson’s trick throws on TikTok (@bigbradbad14) you have permission to check it out before continuing on with the list. You won’t be sorry…
Pretty awesome right? Feel free to dive back in after we’re done here, but for now, let’s move on.
Jameis Winston (2015-2019)
Next it’s number three in our programs and number three in our hearts. It’s just fitting we put Jameis Winston here. Sure, he may not have won a Super Bowl like Brad Johnson, but he does hold every Bucs’ passing record and by a wide margin. In the grand scheme of things, wins are more important than stats. With that said Winston so blows everyone out of the water, our hands are tied. A 5,000-yard season is a 5,000-yard season after all.
Jameis is a bit of a polarizing figure among Buccaneers fans because Winston threw interceptions, and a lot of them. Unfortunately, a large amount of them ended up in the end zone as well, so that certainly doesn’t help. That aside, it’s hard to argue with stats, especially in today’s fantasy football-obsessed society we find ourselves in. As we mentioned, Winston is the Buccaneers’ all-time leading passer in every category. These are facts.
Granted, his signing with the New Orleans Saints might have him lose some of his lusters to fans, but given where he and the Bucs both currently find themselves, a reunion is not out of the question. It isn’t likely, but not impossible either. If that somehow happens, who knows how this list will look.
Honestly, probably the same given the final two entries.
Doug Williams (1978-1982)
The infancy of the Bucs is infamous. Coached by John McKay, the creamsicle Buccaneers lost their first 26 games as a franchise before finally notching a win against the New Orleans Saints. Going 0-14 in 1976, the Buccaneers were “rewarded” with the first overall pick in 1977 which they used on running back Ricky Bell out of USC, the former home of McKay. In 1977, they went 2-12. Once again, they had the first overall pick.
The Buccaneers swapped this pick for the Houston Oilers’ 17th overall pick as well as their second-round pick along with tight-end Jimmie Giles. Giles would go on to become the greatest tight end the Buccaneers have ever had, while their first-round pick, Doug Williams, who became the first African-American quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL Draft and also became the Bucs’ second-best quarterback ever.
Williams’s first pass with the Buccaneers came in the preseason that sailed ten yards over the head of Issac Hagins, but the Tampa crowd still gave a standing ovation. Why? Well, because it was the first time the Bucs had a quarterback capable of throwing long passes downfield. We’ve come a long way.
The Buccaneers improved to 5-11 in 1978 with rookie Williams then 10-6 in 1979, winning the then NFC Central. That year, the Buccaneers would advance to the NFC Championship with Williams at the helm, along with playoff appearances in 1981 and 1982.
In typical Bucs fashion, it ended ugly.
That offseason, Williams asked for a $600,000 contract. However, Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse, a man known to squeeze a quarter so tight the eagle would cry, refused to budge from his initial offer of $400,000 despite protests from McKay. This resulted in Williams deciding to forgo playing football altogether in 1983 and agreeing to play for the upstart USFL’s Oklahoma Outlaws starting in 1984. In 1983 without Williams, the Buccaneers went down the toilet. They went 2–14 and did not make the playoffs again until the 1997 season,14 years later. The Buccaneers would lose ten games in every season but one in that stretch. Culverhouse’s willingness to let Williams walk away over such a relatively small amount of money was seen as insensitive, especially as it came only months after Williams’ wife Janice died of an aneurysm.
For what the Bucs were before and after Williams, it’s obvious he deserves to be where he is on this list. Before and after Williams, a case could have been made for the Buccaneers to be relegated to the very same USFL he bolted to after Culverhouse stiffed him.
Doug Williams was the greatest quarterback the Buccaneers ever had, well, until 2020…
Tom Brady (2020-2021)
Duh. Of course, it’s Tom Brady. Were you expecting the “Throwin’ Samoan” Jack Thompson? Maybe if this was a list of nicknames, but alas.
Brady is not only the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL, but even in two seasons at age 43 and 44, he is also the greatest quarterback the Buccaneers have ever been able to call their own. We mentioned just how brutal the Bucs’ history at the quarterback position has been, and if you’ve come this far in the list, that point has probably been beaten over your head by now, but the two seasons of Brady makes all worth it.
In his first season in Tampa Bay, Brady brought the Buccaneers their second-ever Super Bowl championship at age 43. Is 2021 season at age 44 was arguably his greatest statistical season ever, and was robbed of MVP. Despite playing only two seasons with the Bucs (again at ages FORTY-THREE AND FORTY-FOUR) Brady was still able to throw for 9,949 yards, the seventh most in team history, and 83 touchdowns. The 83 touchdowns? Yeah, that’s good enough for the second-most in franchise history. Certified lunacy.
Brady was able to bring light to a franchise and fanbase stuck in the dark for so long, even playing in the sunshine state. He is without a doubt the greatest quarterback in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even if it was just for a cup of coffee. Thanks to Brady, Bucs fans will be caffeinated for a long time.