Buccaneers lose another free agent to Kansas City Chiefs

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost yet another free agent, but it might reveal part of their upcoming plans for the NFL Draft.

While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have managed to make more moves this offseason that originally anticipated, not everyone is coming back.

Entering this offseason the Bucs needed to shed $55 million and incurred $35 million in dead cap space after Tom Brady retired. Between the bill for the last three seasons finally coming due and the dose of reality that an era had ended, it was shaping up to be a tough offseason for fans.

Despite this, Jason Licht and the front office crew were able to re-sign Jamel Dean and brought back Lavonte David on team-friendly deals. The Bucs also signed Baker Mayfield in free agency to compete with Kyle Trask and potentially take the reins from Brady.

Notice how he’s not being described as a replacement there, because such a notion is terribly inaccurate. Nobody is expecting Mayfield to compete with the legacy Brady left, he’s only here to compete with Trask.

Lost in the Baker discourse is what would happen to Blaine Gabbert. The former first-round pick has backed up Brady the last three seasons and there was a brief moment when it was pondered whether or not the Bucs might roll with him and see what happens.

That would require the team to re-sign him, which didn’t happen. Instead, Gabbert is heading to the AFC West and to another role as a backup.

Buccaneers lose Blaine Gabbert to Chiefs

Pat McAfee, of all people, broke news on his show that Gabbert would be joining the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is the second free agent this offseason to leave for greener pastures in Kansas City. Gabbert joins safety Mike Edwards, who signed with the Chiefs back in March.

It’s a pretty obvious no-brainer for Gabbert, who basically goes from backing up one Hall of Fane quarterback to another. He also positions himself to once again be a part of a team that makes a run at a Super Bowl.

Gabbert leaving shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to Bucs fans. If the team had any interest in bringing him back he would have been signed already. Instead Tampa Bay is locked into having Mayfield and Trask battle it out in training camp for the right to be the starter.

What this also might indicate is the Bucs plans to draft a quarterback. While the hand hasn’t been totally revealed by this move, it does leave a spot in the quarterback room open for a rookie next season. Rumors continue to link the Bucs with Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, but there are a handful of Day 3 signal callers who could have a home in Tampa Bay with Gabbert’s spot officially vacant.