When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin training camp this week, things are going to look a lot different than they have the last three seasons.
No absence will be more noticeable -- and perhaps impactful -- than Tom Brady.
Brady retired back in February and set off a chain reaction in Tampa that forced the franchise to take its medicine and pay the bill for chasing Super Bowls the last three seasons. The result was needing to figure out a $55 million salary cap situation while dealing with more than $35 million in dead cap space.
It wasn't easy, but the Bucs front office navigated choppy waters to emerge mostly unscathed. One of the moves the team made was bringing in Baker Mayfield to compete for the team's starting quarterback position. This has been sold has Baker 'replacing' Brady, which creates optics solely meant for dunking on by Twitter comedians.
Not everyone is taking shots at Baker and the Bucs, though. A former Saints scout believes things could work out even better in Tampa than they did last year thanks to the quarterback change.
Former Saints scout rips Tom Brady, praises Baker Mayfield
While appearing on the Go Long podcast, former Saints scout Jim Monos explained why Baker Mayfield will be better for the Bucs than what the team got out of Tom Brady in his final season with the team.
“He was an easy guy to prepare for," Monos said. “I just think they’ll be able to do more with Mayfield because, to be honest, he’s just younger and tougher right now. Brady was good; Brady was checked out.”
Keep in mind he's referring to the final season Brady played in Tampa Bay, not his entire run with the franchise. If Baker is somehow better than Brady over three seasons, then that's going to mean multiple Super Bowls -- which every Bucs fan will sign up for.
This could also be taken as a former Saints scout liking something for the Bucs meaning it's actually a bad thing, but Monos hasn't worked in New Orleans since 2013. He left the Saints to become Director of Player Personnel with the Bills, so he knows a thing or two about reading tea leaves on how players might perform.
We won't be able to start forming a true opinion on Baker or the Bucs until we see them at training camp, but it seems a lot of the early Baker hate is slowly starting to get countered by expectations that he could be a surprise this season.