Getty Former head coach Bruce Arians is now part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be in the market for a new quarterback if Tom Brady opts to move on this offseason potentially leaving the team without a concrete QB1 for 2023. The Athletic’s Bo Wulf outlined one possible free agency signing for each team to make in 2023 and has the Bucs making a run at veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
“If Brady does in fact leave, the Bucs will be left in rough shape given their cap situation and an aging roster,” Wulf wrote on December 13, 2022. “Maybe they turn things over fully to 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask, but you’d think they’d want someone to compete for the opportunity of throwing balls to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. They could do worse than Brissett, who exceeded expectations for the Browns this season. On the year, he ranks 12th of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in EPA per dropback, according to TruMedia, ahead of the likes of Herbert, Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins and Brady himself.”
Brissett Has Served as a Starting Quarterback for the Colts & Browns
GOT ‘EM!
Jacoby Brissett pump faking 3 defenders into each other to get the TD 😂
Brissett is a bit of a journeyman who the Colts signed to a two-year, $30 million contract in 2019 to be the team’s replacement after Andrew Luck abruptly retired. The veteran’s stint as QB1 was brief, and Brissett signed a $5 million deal with the Dolphins in 2021. One year later, Brissett inked a $4.6 million contract with the Browns where he served as Cleveland’s starting quarterback this season during Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension.
Wulf’s argument that the Bucs “could do worse” than Brissett does not exactly generate a high level of excitement about the possibility. Brissett does have 48 NFL starts under his belt and the quarterback threw for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 64% of his passes during Watson’s absence this season.
Brady’s Future With the Bucs Is ‘Up in Air’
From @NFLGameDay: All options are on the table for the future of #Bucs QB Tom Brady. More here 👇👇👇
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Brady’s future remains “up in the air” noting that “all options are on the table.” This not only includes the possibility of retirement but leaving Tampa Bay in free agency.
“Tom Brady returns today to where his football career began,” Rapoport and Pelissero detailed on December 11. “How and when his career ends is firmly up in the air.
“Multiple sources close to the legendary quarterback say all options are on the table for Brady, who at age 45 feels good enough to keep playing and once again has the Buccaneers in playoff position entering today’s game against the 49ers.
“…The plan heading into the 2022 season had been to walk away at age 45, as Brady always imagined. But those who know him well wonder if he’s more open now than he was in early September.”
The Bucs selected Kyle Trask in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft but the former Florida standout quarterback has yet to take a snap in a regular-season game. Trask has also failed to win the backup quarterback job over Blaine Gabbert in either of his two NFL seasons. If Brady is not with the Buccaneers in 2023, Tampa Bay will have limited options given the team is projected to be more than $44 million over the cap in 2023, per Spotrac.