Thanks to events that took place earlier this offseason, a Cold War has started between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Specifically, the Bucs have beef with Liam Coen, who bolted to become the Jaguars new head coach under the shadiest of circumstances.
After initially dropping out of the running and agreeing to return to Tampa Bay for another season — potentially to be head coach in waiting — Coen ghosted the Bucs and took another job behind their backs. It’s not that he left, it’s how he did it, that has everyone steamed and those hurt feelings have been on display all offseason.
Coen was blocked from taking some of his former assistants with him to Jacksonville and the bad blood has been building ever since. He did manage to take one coach with him, as John Van Dam’s contract had expired meaning the Bucs didn’t have a say in the matter, and not Coen has managed to poach his first player off Tampa Bay’s roster.
Jaguars sign former Buccaneers QB John Wolford and reunite him with Liam Coen
On Monday it was announced that former Buccaneers quarterback John Wolford was leaving to reunite with Coen in Jacksonville. After two years of being QB3 behind Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask, Wolford now joins a quarterback room alongside Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones.
QB John Wolford reunites with Liam Coen in Jacksonville. They worked together in Tampa last summer. https://t.co/tu3ifZe6sm
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 17, 2025
Putting aside the gripes we all have with Coen, it’s not a bad move for Wolford. He knows Coen’s system well and will be able to help install it for Lawrence, which is going to be huge in closing the learning gap this offseason.
Wolford was brought in back in 2023 and added to the Bucs’ practice squad but was later signed to the active roster after the Vikings tried to steal him away. His arrival was big for Baker, as the two played in the same system back in Los Angeles with the Rams which is largely why Kevin O’Connell tried to sign him for Minnesota’s quarterback room.
Now he gets a chance to continue that veteran leadership in Jacksonville, a place where it will very much be needed given how things have gone lately.
As for the Bucs, they’re now in the market for a QB3 which could be part of a wholesale change on the depth chart. Kyle Trask is a free agent this offseason and his future is up in the air, and with Wolford gone Tampa Bay could enter free agency with Mayfield as the only quarterback on the roster.
Josh Grizzard’s promotion to offensive coordinator bodes well for the return of Trask, whose best option might be re-signing with Tampa Bay. The question is how the Bucs will fill that QB3 role, and the answer might be Michael Pratt. He was signed after the Packers released him before the season started, and he’s a young quarterback who everyone in the building wanted to draft before Green Bay got him first.
There could even be a scenario where Pratt replaces Trask as the team’s backup, but all of that will be decided in good time. What we do know after the Wolford news is that Liam Coen is gunning to sign his former players in free agency and the Bucs will have some interesting questions at quarterback to answer this offseason.
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