Pro Football Rumors
Before the Seahawks established a blueprint of tumbling into offseasons without a quarterback safety net, the Buccaneers moved into the 2020 free agency period with only a mid-first-round pick. Tampa Bay was well out of range to grab Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert. Fortunately, a league that does not make a habit of allowing starter-level quarterbacks to hit the market presented a few strong free agency options that year.
Philip Rivers, Teddy Bridgewater — fresh off his midcareer internship of sorts in New Orleans — and Tom Brady became available. Intending to upgrade on Jameis Winston, the Bucs made a successful bet on Brady. Previously overlapping with former Patriots exec-turned-Bucs GM Jason Licht in New England, Brady remained an attractive commodity ahead of an age-43 season. The Bucs also benefited from only two strong Brady suitors, beating out the Chargers, who ended up with Herbert after Brady chose Licht’s roster to lead rather than Tom Telesco‘s.
Tampa Bay’s Brady decision panned out spectacularly well, producing a Super Bowl LV win and a second-team All-Pro 2021 season from the quarterback, and it also highlighted a daring strategy with regards to free agency. The Brady years featured a host of Bucs re-signings rather than extensions, and Licht has turned to that unorthodox strategy since the all-time great retired.
The player who replaced Brady — in what became a 2023 marriage of convenience between a downward-trending passer and a team navigating a $35MM dead money bill from the 23-year veteran’s second retirement — also tested the Bucs’ no-guardrails approach. The team managed to re-sign Baker Mayfield a day before the 2024 free agency period, averting an uncertain future.
Brady over Winston was an easy call in 2020, given the latter’s turnover propensity in a five-year work sample, but the Bucs would stand to have a more difficult time finding an upgrade on Mayfield. They have held one top-10 pick since taking Winston first overall, and as it stands, Kyler Murray and Mac Jones may be the prizes of the 2027 market. The Bucs have made a habit of finalizing deals at the 11th hour or even when bidding against other teams during legal tampering periods, but Mayfield’s self-imposed negotiating deadline — training camp’s outset, per the quarterback — raises the stakes for a few reasons.
