While we hope that someone steps in to keep this future from happening, the Buccaneers need to stay busy in free agency to make their quarterback room work.
No one who follows Tom Brady with the Buccaneers will ever be good enough. The fanbase is so divided that even the initial Brady announcement was questioned by many supporters, so the thought that everyone will just sit and be happy with Blaine Gabbert or Kyle Trask is naive.
Lulls happen, even for teams that were riding as high as the Bucs. The newest quarterbacks may not inspire much confidence about the 2022 season, but that doesn’t mean Tampa shouldn’t get busy in the free agent market to keep life as easy as possible for the new quarterback.
The Buccaneers don’t have a ton of free money to go after anyone outside of the franchise, but they can still make a few signings happen if they really do care about winning.
1. Cordarrelle Patterson
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again; Patterson may be pricey, but there may not be a better fit on the market for what the Buccaneers need as a receiver and as a running back.
A new starter like Gabbert or Trask will need someone to lean on out wide or out of the backfield, and Patterson gives the flexibility for the Bucs to address two positions with one contract.
2. Jerick McKinnon
McKinnon is coming off a revival with the Chiefs and could see much more attention this offseason. Injuries have been a dire problem up until this point in McKinnon’s career, but the Bucs need a running back, and his talent mixed with his price tag could make him good enough to ignore some of the worries.
3. Christian Kirk
It would be a strange for the Cardinals to move on from Kirk as they try to keep their offense intact, but his talent is there and he likely wouldn’t cause the Bucs to spend too much to add another guy to a desperate wide receiver room.
4. David Njoku
If we’re dealing with a world of possibilities here, while it seems unlikely that Njoku will leave the Browns, the Buccaneers should still try to make a run at one of the better tight ends on the free agent market if they really want to make their new quarterback’s life easier.
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