The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to be taking a ride on the quarterback carousel this off-season. Tom Brady has opted for retirement, leaving the Buccaneers without a starting quarterback as they head into the 2023 offseason.
Luckily for Tampa Bay, some veterans will be available that could fill the gigantic void left by Brady’s retirement. Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo and Aaron Rodgers are atop the list, but there will be challenges to acquiring any of those players.
The salary cap situation is bleak as the New Orleans Saints are the only team further over the cap than the Buccaneers are projected to be. That would make bringing on a veteran very difficult with the amount of money that would need to be moved around.
If they opted to make a trade, that may give some relief for 2023 but it would put them in a predicament for years to come. Instead, could they look to unload some draft capital to land a top prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft?
That is what was proposed by Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports. In their latest mock draft, they have the Buccaneers making a huge jump up the board in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals. Tampa Bay trades the No. 19 and 54 overall picks in the 2023 NFL Draft along with a 2024 first and fourth-rounder in exchange for the Cardinals’ No. 3 pick.
With the third pick, the Buccaneers are projected to select Kentucky quarterback Will Levis. It would be a huge risk for Tampa Bay to stick at No. 19 as all of the top quarterback prospects could very well be off the board already. Looking to avoid that, they make a bold trade to jump up near the top of the board.
With only Kyle Trask on the roster at quarterback and the team being capped out, this is certainly a feasible route for the Buccaneers to take. 2023 is shaping up to be a rebuilding year for the franchise so they opt to tear it all down and start with the highly touted Levis. There are certainly worse positions for a rookie to be put into than having Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to target at wide receiver.
