Why Jimmy Garoppolo is perfect succession plan for Buccaneers

Once again, rumors are swirling that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be in on the Jimmy Garoppolo market, or “sweepstakes” if you so choose to call it that. Believe it or not though, trading for the handsome yet limited quarterback would make perfect sense for the Buccaneers.

For almost a decade now (if you can believe that), Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady have been associated with one another. As the story goes, Garoppolo was Bill Belichick’s hand-picked successor for Brady with the New England Patriots. Brady wasn’t a subscriber of this notion since felt he had more left in the tank (suffice to say he was right) and the Patriots eventually shipped Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers. How directly the GOAT had a hand in that is up for interpretation. Anyway, fast forward a few years, and Garoppolo may end up following in Brady’s footsteps, after all, only this time with the Buccaneers. The NFL is king for a lot of reasons, and these crafted narratives “conveniently” always falling into place is one of those reasons.

When it comes to the Bucs quarterback situation, it’s time to face a little reality, as difficult as it may be. Yes, Brady pulled off the swerves of swerves and came out of retirement to run in it back with the Bucs. However, he is an unrestricted free agent after this season, so things have the potential to get a little dicey. Fortunately, there’s a quarterback that’s available to solve this issue. Enter Jimmy G.

Like it or not, Garoppolo is a winner. Let’s just face facts here. Yes, obviously he’s limited as a passer. However, so far in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers are 35-16 including playoffs when he is starting quarterback. When they have literally anyone else starting quarterback, polished passer or otherwise, Shanahan and the 49ers are 8-28.

The general consensus is that Garoppolo is holding Shanahan’s offense back, but with a record disparity like that, are we positive it is not the other way around? That of course may be a little far-fetched, but it’s something to sit on and let boil. Of course, Shanahan’s run-heavy scheme can mask a quarterback’s deficiencies, but again, why can’t any other quarterback win with the same uber-talented roster, and in the same system?

Speaking of systems, there’s the whole nugget of new Bucs head coach Todd Bowles emphasizing the fact that they want to run the ball more, and Brady and Leftwich are on board. No more chuck and duck it would seem. As it happens, Jimmy G is quite custom to winning when there’s a lot of running going on.

Given the fact that Baker Mayfield, a former number one overall draft pick who gave the CLEVELAND BROWNS their first playoff victory in ages, was just shipped off for a conditional fifth-round pick, the price for Jimmy G’s services shouldn’t be too steep. While we’re on the subject of Mayfield, at one time he was seen as a potential best-case scenario among Bucs fans for the heir apparent to Brady, but thanks to the Carolina Panthers, that horse may have left the barn.

Sure, if the Buccaneers bring in Garoppolo, it might make Brady angry. This may cause him to eventually leave, which again he has all the power to do after the season, but his mind may also already be made up on the matter. The outside rumors on his next move are annoying, but where there’s smoke there’s often fire. Silver lining Bucs fans, Brady plays at his best when he’s angry. So there’s that.

Should this happen, the Bucs have the ultimate bridge guy, but not franchise guy due to injury and limitations, to stay afloat if not contenders with the talented San Fran-like roster they also have to work with while they figure out what Kyle Trask can be and scout college passers. If it fails, then they’re in position to draft their next guy without having to move Heaven and Earth to trade up.

At the end of the day, sometimes bridge-quarterbacks are necessary. Yes, the Green Bay Packers had Brett Favre from 1992-2007 then went right to Aaron Rodgers for example, but unfortunately that’s the exception not the rule. If we’re living in reality, which it’s safe to say we are, Jimmy Garoppolo is the best option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to take over after Tom Brady is gone. After that, let’s see where this quarterback-cursed franchise is at, however not by putting the cart before the horse of course.