After how poorly he played in relief of an injured Baker Mayfield in primetime against the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew they could not go into the 2026 NFL season with a washed up Teddy Bridgewater, who is now no longer one of the top backups in the NFL, as their only emergency option for their franchise signal caller.
The Bucs did sign Jake Browning to replace Bridgewater, and while Browning can at least still throw the football without looking like he's going to combust, the Bucs don't actually have a developmental quarterback on their squad to learn the ropes behind Mayfield and then potentially oust an admittedly underwhelming Browning as the No. 2 in a couple of years.
They did re-sign Connor Bazelak, who impressed as an undrafted free agent last year, but his ceiling appears to be an extended stint on the practice squad.
Some Buccaneers fans are thinking about a boom or bust, high upside mid-round flier like Drew Allar being the pick in their situation, and they did have an informal meeting with the Penn State star during the NFL Combine process.
Buccaneers show interest in a surprising, but underwhelming QB option
Now, they are working out another quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft class. According to a report from insider Jordan Schultz, former Kansas Jayhawks passer Jalon Daniels is taking a visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after recently being looked at by the AFC Champion New England Patriots. The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, and Kansas City Chiefs, who all have top starters, also worked out Daniels in the pre draft process. And so have the NFC South rival New Orleans Saints.
Daniels is coming off his sixth season of college football, and he finally put up respectable numbers as the Jayhawks starter in 2025 with 22 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. There isn't anything spectacular, though, about any of Daniels's college numbers, and with 3.5 yards per carry from the quraterback position last season, it's not like he's a credible threat on the ground either.
Numbers aren't everything, but most of the scouting reports on Jalon Daniels are pretty lukewarm, too. The NFL Network's Lance Zierlein wrote a scathing overview of Daniels, stating that he is not prepared to read NFL coverages and implying that many of his interceptions at a collegiate level were due to poor recognition skills.
That never bodes well, especially for someone who only has decent arm talent and athleticism. Daniels is a guy who started his college career at Kansas with a lot of promise, never developed, and ended up being only good enough to merit some draft consideration. In fact, he may very well go undrafted this year. Perhaps the Buccaneers are preparing for the scenario he is an undrafted free agent, laying the foundation of a relationship and giving themselves a head-start on signing him after the draft.
Credit to the front office, as they're clearly turning over every stone to insure there is a more capable backup behind Baker Mayfield than there has been in recent seasons.