After re-signing Jamel Dean, Bucs reportedly set sights on free agent veteran QB

Now that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have re-signed Jamel Dean, the team is reportedly setting its sights on adding a veteran quarterback in free agency. 

When the offseason began, it appeared as though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to hang back and let the whole frenzy wash over them.

This wasn’t because the team wasn’t interested in adding to its roster, rather the Bucs entered the offseason in a salary cap crunch. Tampa Bay needed to shed over $50 million to get back under the cap, which meant making hard decisions like cutting Leonard Fournette and Cameron Brate and accelerating the end of Donovan Smith’s time with the team.

In addition to the salary cap predicament, the Bucs are entering the post-Tom Brady era which seemed to suggest the franchise was going to regress back to the Dark Ages it had just emerged from.

And out of nowhere, all of the angst and anxiety went away.

Tampa Bay pulled off a stunner on Monday, re-signing top free agent Jamel Dean. Rather than let him walk, which seemed like the case given the circumstance, the Bucs gave Dean a four-year, $52 million deal at about a $13 million average.

It appears that was just the start of their free agency movement.

Buccaneers reportedly interested in Jacoby Brissett

According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, the Buccaneers are among the teams interested in signing Jacoby Brissett when free agency opens on Wednesday.

“Browns veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett has drawn interest from teams, including Buccaneers, Eagles, and others at the start of NFL Free Agency, per league sources,” Wilson reported on Monday” “[Brissett] passed for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, and rushed for 243 yards, two scores last season.”

Rumors that the Bucs are interested in Brissett have been around for a while, but they feel more serious with free agency so close to starting up. Couple that with the Bucs spending to re-sign Dean and it becomes clear that nobody has tanking on their mind for next season.

Brissett’s stats seem pretty mid, but when compared to other quarterbacks on the market it feels like Brissett makes up for it with what he’d provide as a locker room leader. Kyle Trask needs someone to compete with for the starting job, and if Brissett beats him he’ll do so by putting the team in a position to compete. His workmanlike attitude seems to fit the culture that Todd Bowles is trying to establish, and there’s hope that Brissett can have a Geno Smith-type season with Dave Canales — who coached Smith last year in Seattle.

Earlier on Monday the Houston Texans signed Case Keenum to a two-year, $6.25 million deal that’s worth up to $8.25M with incentives. That could be the sort of deal the Bucs might be thinking about for Brissett, which seems like a steal given what he could offer the team as a whole during his time in Tampa Bay.