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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could prepare for life after Tom Brady as soon as next season.
According to Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire, the Buccaneers should be a potential landing spot for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. The 25-year-old Jackson is entering the last year of his rookie deal with the Ravens with the two sides seemingly at a standstill in contract negotiations.
Easterling made the argument that Jackson “makes plenty of sense” as Brady’s successor next year.
“Every day that Jackson doesn’t have an extension in Baltimore makes it more likely that this will end with both sides parting ways,” Easterling wrote in an August 19 story. “If that happens, and Jackson hits the market next year, there will be no other team that makes more sense as a potential landing spot than Tampa Bay. They’ll still have a loaded roster ready to make another Super Bowl run, and replacing Brady with Jackson would extend that title window for a while yet.”
Bucs Lacking Viable Replacement for Brady
Jackson has already accomplished so much early on in his career. The South Florida native became the youngest MVP in NFL history when he won the award in 2019. Furthermore, he’s a two-time Pro Bowler, a former All-Pro selection and has led the Ravens to the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
However, the Ravens have still yet to sign their franchise quarterback to a new deal, with Week 1 being set as a deadline for contact negotiations. Baltimore is coming off of a disappointing 8-9 campaign with the Ravens finishing last in the AFC North in 2021. If the Ravens go through another difficult season, it could lead to Jackson looking for greener pastures.
As Easterling wrote, the Buccaneers don’t exactly have a quarterback waiting in the wings ready to fill Brady’s void. Second-year quarterback Kyle Trask has yet to throw an NFL pass attempt and he has yet to unseat veteran Blaine Gabbert as the primary backup to Brady. Back in May, Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen went so far as to predict that he didn’t see Trask entering the 2022 season in contention for the backup QB job.
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Ravens Are Holding Lamar Jackson Back, Says Steve Young
Another interesting theory is the idea that the Ravens are holding Jackson back. ESPN analyst Steve Young recently brought up the notion that Baltimore’s offense isn’t maximizing Jackson’s abilities as a passer.
“I can’t wait for someone to train Lamar Jackson in a sophisticated passing game,” Young said on August 19. “I think he’d be the greatest player in the history of the game. But he keeps getting held back by the Ravens year after year because they keep doubling down on this [rushing] thing Lamar Jackson is great at. No question, he’s the best at that. But that’s not the championship football they need to play. That’s not what Lamar Jackson wants to be.”
If Jackson buys into that theory — especially if the Ravens falter during the 2022 season — he could be looking for a new destination to call his home. Easterling brought up the Buccaneers’ vertical pass-heavy scheme as a selling point for the young star quarterback.
“Tampa Bay’s offensive scheme is vertical-heavy in the passing game, which would finally give Jackson the opportunity to show off his prowess through the air,” he wrote. “Between that scheme and the talented weapons Jackson would have at his disposal, it would also open things up for Jackson to take off running when necessary, still allowing him to be the dynamic playmaker he’s always been with the ball in his hands.”
The idea of Jackson either signing or being traded to the Buccaneers seems far-fetched. But there have been a number of star players surprisingly traded to new teams this past offseason, including Russell Wilson, Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams.
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