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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ future at the quarterback position is a complete unknown at the moment. As the Bucs’ 31-14 season-ending loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round has officially put 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady on the clock to make a decision regarding his potential return for a 24th season in the NFL.
If Brady decides to retire or play football with another team in 2023, one potential replacement was suggested in a report from JoeBucsfan.com.
None other than the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Mayfield is coming off of the most tumultuous season of his NFL career. He was traded by the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers in early July but was eventually released by the Panthers on December 5 before finishing the season with the Los Angeles Rams.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, he posted career lows in passing yardage (2,163), passing touchdowns (10) and quarterback rating (24.5) with a combined starting record of 2-8 in 2022.
Mayfield is set to become an unrestricted free agent once on March 15 when the new league year begins.
Potential Reunion for Baker Mayfield & Todd Monken in Tampa Bay?
The quarterback position isn’t the only question mark in the Bucs organization at the moment. After the Bucs decided to fire Byron Leftwich, along with five other coaches on the staff on January 19, the team now has an open vacancy at the offensive coordinator position.
Per Ian Rapoport and NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo, University of Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken was mentioned as a potential replacement for Byron Leftwich.
Monken has prior experience not only with Mayfield during his time as offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns in 2019, but also with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he acted as offensive coordinator for a period of time in 2018 under Dirk Koetter.
While his NFL playcalling career has some mixed results, he has been an intricate part of helping the Georgia Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships by averaging over 38 points per game over the last two seasons.
Todd Bowles Releases Statement About Coaching Changes
It’s no secret that the Bucs will be going through a host of changes this offseason, but Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles did take the time to acknowledge the hard work and success the team experienced in a statement related to the coaching staff changes.
“We appreciate the hard work and contributions that all of these coaches made to our successes over the past four seasons,” said Bowles. “As a collective group, we did not meet the high standards that had been set for this past year and my focus now is on doing what is needed to ensure a successful 2023 season. These were very difficult decisions but something that I felt was necessary for our football team going forward.”
The Bucs will enter the postseason with a handful of tough salary decisions to make on the roster.
After an 8-9 record and a loss in the Wild Card round, Tampa Bay currently owns the 19th overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.
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