The Tampa Bay Buccaneers scouting department shouldn’t get time off, shouldn’t get an offseason, shouldn’t get vacations, and should be eating lunch at their desks right now.
Things have become that serious.
With the future of starting quarterback Baker Mayfield up in the air in the final year of his 3-year, $100 million contract, and with a possible quarterback class for the ages coming up in the 2027 NFL draft, there is a lot of work to do.
Too much work to take days off, and too much work with Mayfield not having signed an extension yet — the Buccaneers need to be ready.
There’s even a chance the 2027 class breaks the record for quarterbacks taken in the 1st round — 6 each in 1983 and 2024.
“The 2027 NFL Draft QB class is insanely deep,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on his official X account in April following the 2026 NFL draft. “I can tell you right now: there are teams and scouts who are absolutely giddy about it.”
It’s up to the Buccaneers to have all the information about all of them when the moment comes.
Up to 10 Quarterbacks Could Go in 2027 1st Round
It’s hard to comprehend at this point, but it’s a possibility up to 10 quarterbacks go in the 1st round of the 2027 NFL draft and blow the previous records out of the water.
Here are the 10 quarterbacks, right now, who have been landing in the 1st round of recent mock drafts:
- Dante Moore, Oregon
- Arch Manning, Texas
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State
- Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame
- Sam Leavitt, LSU
- Darian Mensah, Miami
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- LaNoris Sellers, South Carolina
- Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech (supplemental draft)
It should be noted that all but Sellers, Manning, and Carr started their college careers at other schools.
Bucs ‘On the Clock’ to Draft 1st Round QB in 2027
Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman put the Buccaneers on his list of teams that should already be considered “on the clock” to draft a 1st round quarterback in the 2027 NFL draft.
“Baker Mayfield is a free agent after this season, but it’s still likely the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will give him a lucrative extension after three solid seasons taking over for Tom Brady,” Auman wrote. “If they don’t, there’s no heir apparent on the current roster, so they’d be on this list, though they’ve had good luck in the last two veterans they’ve found in free agency. They’ve drafted only one quarterback (Kyle Trask) in the last decade.”
If Mayfield could somehow put together a season that lifts the Buccaneers back into the NFC Playoffs in 2026, he could be in line for a payday that lands him somewhere between $50 million and $60 million per season.
The biggest problem there? If Mayfield does pull that off, the Buccaneers won’t be the only team in the running for his services. The smartest move is to extend the 2-time Pro Bowler before the season begins, which Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton called the “most important move” Tampa Bay needs to make this offseason still.
“Although Mayfield told reporters that contract talks with the Buccaneers ‘are not anywhere close’ to his expectations, it’s notable that he’s at least in negotiations with the team in the final year of his non-guaranteed deal,” Moton wrote on June 20. ” … In all likelihood, the two sides will find a middle ground by the start of training camp.”
Bucs Urged to Start Scouting ‘Insanely Deep’ 2027 QB Class