Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune expects the Buccaneers to bring in a veteran quarterback to compete with incumbent starter Mike Glennon, as opposed to addressing the position in the draft.
The basis for Cummings’ expectation stems from the team’s likely desire to mix a veteran into the position since both quarterbacks currently under contract with the Bucs each have less than one full season’s worth of game experience.
On Monday, Tampa Bay signed former Eagles QB Mike Kafka, who has not played in an NFL game since being injured in the 2012 preseason. Kafka, a 2010 fourth-round pick, appeared in 4 games for the Eagles in 2011.
Mike McCartney, Kafka’s agent, stated that Kafka chose to sign with Tampa Bay over Dallas because they felt that if “Mike plays well, they’ll keep three“, referring to the number of quarterbacks Tampa will keep on the 53-man roster for the 2014 season.
In an article for the Tampa Tribune, Cummings acknowledged that neither Head Coach Lovie Smith nor GM Jason Licht have commented on their plans for the QB position in 2014, but it does appear that the team is setting up to add a veteran with substantial experience.
Mike Glennon, a third-round pick out of North Carolina State, played in 13 games for the Buccaneers last season after HC Greg Schiano benched Josh Freeman. The Buccaneers also had Dan Orlovsky, but he is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Some of the more notable quarterback who will be unrestricted free agents include: Josh McCown, Michael Vick, Matt Cassel, Matt Flynn, Tarvaris Jackson, Shaun Hill and Chad Henne.
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Yesterday Siruis XM threw Tavaris Jackson in the mix because of his arm and mobility. He would be worth a lot less than Vick, possibly compete for the starting job, but he may not be a starting quality caliber QB. Mobility is the biggest factor with Tedford, although too much mobility could hurt the BUCS. Many will criticize Glennon’s season last year. As a rookie his decision making could have been better and he could have taken a few more deep passes. The one thing working against him was an unhealthy O-line playing at a sub par level, as well as having only 1 reliable WR and finding out they had a TE too late in the season. Also, the play calling was horrible which many people forget too. Bottom line if you take Glennon out to early, he won’t develop correctly and you will be searching for a starting QB for years.
Agree with a lot of your points. have not seen a lot of Jackson. And Vick is winding down. A few more big hits..he’s out for the season. Cassel, McCowan,
or Flynn might be out best vet bets. Initially, I was very critical of Glennon. But I did see a lot of good things. After all, he was a rook. I’m sure he will get his shot again this season. They will evaluate him.