It once again appears the Bucs might have entered the Derek Carr sweepstakes

Fire up those Derek Carr rumors, because the door appears to once again be open for a potential deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

As NFL Free Agency nears, the winds of the rumor mill are starting to gust harder and harder. Down in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers are trying to determine what the route will be as the team attempts to navigate an offseason of big time change.

Tom Brady, Leonard Fournette, and Cameron Brate have been removed from the roster equation, and guys like Jamel Dean, Lavonte David, and Donovan Smith might all be gone this offseason as well.

Part of this mass exodus has to do with the Bucs kicking the salary cap can down the road to afford the Brady Era. Doing so produced a Super Bowl, which instantly makes it worth the trouble, but the bill has come due. Tampa Bay enters the offseason needing to shed $55 million to get back under the cap, and more tough decisions lie ahead for the front office.

But will the Bucs make any additions amid so many conversations about roster subtraction?

Specifically, what happens at quarterback? Kyle Trask is the only player under contract at the position and rumors have been swirling about the Bucs going after someone in free agency since Brady announced his retirement in February.

One of those guys is Derek Carr, and it appears the will they/won’t they game continues.

Buccaneers news: Two mystery teams have contacted Derek Carr

Carr was linked to the Bucs as soon as the Raiders made it clear they were moving on, but they’re not the only team in the mix. In fact, the Bucs have been on the bubble of the conversation with the Saints, Jets, and Panthers being among the front runners to land him.

It appears all hope for Bucs fans is not lost, though.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, at least two other teams have made contact with Carr over the last few weeks. The identity of the teams aren’t revealed but it certainly leaves the door open to once again connect the Bucs with Carr.

Per Fowler:

"The New York Jets and Carolina Panthers remain interested in Carr, too, but it’s more complicated with them due to the Jets’ interest in Rodgersand the Panthers’ chance to solve their quarterback position once and for all in the draft (No. 9 overall). Carolina his lurking here, with a follow-up call with Carr early this week. The Panthers are a factor. And at least two other teams have reached out on Carr in recent weeks."

Carr was in Indianapolis this past week to meet with teams at the NFL Combine, but the Bucs weren’t reported to be among those teams.

Perhaps they are one of these mystery teams that indeed made contact with him. Both Jason Licht and Todd Bowles were in Indy and they were meeting with rookie quarterbacks the team could potentially draft, so why not meet with Carr as well?

We don’t know the identity of the mystery teams, but it’s not hard to see all of the smoke with Carr and not assume the Bucs have at least made contact to see if anything is possible.