NFL: Predicting the week one starting quarterback for all 32 teams
By Kyle Edmond
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Teddy Bridgewater
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have many pivotal decisions to make this offseason. They are set to lose a lot of pieces to free agency, potentially. The team only has about $27 million in cap space once Tom Brady is off the books. However, the list of players to re-sign includes Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard, Ryan Jensen, Alex Cappa, Jason Pierre-Paul, William Gholston, Ndamukong Suh and Carlton Davis. This could be the beginning of a rebuild in Tampa.
As of now, Kyle Trask will be the only quarterback on the roster for next year. The Bucs are going to need their draft capital to rebuild what will be lost, so trading for a big name QB is out, or really any QB for that matter. They also are strapped by the cap, so a big quarterback free agent is out. Enter Teddy Bridgewater.
The NFL’s latest journeyman starter, Bridgewater is set to become a free agent and could be a cheap option to hold down the fort for a year. He’ll still only be 29-years old at the start of the 2022 season and while he hasn’t been outstanding, he’s been serviceable.
Over the last three seasons, Bridgewater has gone 16-18 as a starter with New Orleans, Carolina and Denver. He was even able to go 7-7 with the Broncos as the starter this past season.
There’s also the draw to Tampa for Bridgewater. This is an opportunity to start in his home state, originally from Miami, and take over a team that will still have pieces in place to be competitive. It isn’t a long-term solution, but it buys the Bucs time to set up a plan for the future.