Three QBs Tampa Bay Must Pursue After Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson Moves
With the franchise tag deadline on Tuesday approaching two prominent veteran QBs were able to ink new deals. Aaron Rodgers re-signed with the Green Bay Packers, while Russell Wilson was traded from Seattle to the Denver Broncos in a blockbuster deal. While Aaron Rodgers coming to the Bucs was a long shot, a deal to get Russell Wilson to the Bay area seemed like a move that would align positively for both parties.
Since neither of those two are available for the Buccaneers, they should, and I believe will take a look at adding a veteran QB to the roster for the 2022 season. There are solid options for the Bucs to look at when considering who to exactly target in either free agency or via trade. Let's look at the 3 QBs the Bucs should pursue now that two of their targets are off the board.
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Marcus Mariota
Mariota has had quite the traveler's experience since he entered the league back in 2015. Although we did not see what many expected from him coming out of Oregon, Mariota has shown flashes, especially in his last two stops in Tennessee and Las Vegas. In Tennessee, he showed maturity and efficiency. With Vegas he filled in admirably for Derek Carr when his number was called, even showing flashes of big-play capability. Mariota would provide a great game manager for the Bucs and allow OC Byron Leftwich to utilize his skill players more.
Deshaun Watson
The most controversial of the 3 QBs the Bucs should at least look into comes in the form of current Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson. We have all seen what he is able to do on the football field, but the question marks surrounding his off-field behavior may be too large to overcome. Since the offseason began, so has the deposition of Watson into the claims of sexual assault against 22 different women. This in itself, whether found guilty or not, would be a hard pill to swallow for the front office.
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Jimmy Garoppolo
It feels inevitable at this point that Jimmy G and the San Francisco 49ers are mutually deciding to part ways. With the 49ers drafting Trey Lance last year and seeing the promise when thrown into action this past season, it appears Garoppolo will be playing this upcoming season in another uniform. Garoppolo has studied under legendary coach Bill Belichick and former Bucs' QB Tom Brady during his stint in New England. He knows the game inside and out and would be a great game manager to take over now that Brady has retired. There still seems to be things missing from Garoppolo's game, but much like with Brady before the Bucs, he hasn't really gotten the opportunity to showcase some of his other assets.
Although there are other options out there, these 3 separate themselves for what the Bucs have on their roster coming into the 2022 NFL season.
