Buccaneers View Mike Glennon As Their “Quarterback Of The Future”

Earlier in the day, rumors surfaced that the Buccaneers could attempt to trade second-year QB Mike Glennon if they came away with a quarterback prospect in this year’s draft.

However, Buccaneers HC Lovie Smith mentioned shortly after the team used their No. 7 overall pick on Texas A&M WR Mike Evans that they view Glennon as their quarterback of the future

“It’s what’s best for us,” Smith said, via ESPN.com. “Just talking about our quarterback position, our quarterback position is as strong as any quarterback position I’ve had when I’ve been a head coach. You know how much I like Josh McCown as our starter. I love Mike Glennon. Mike Glennon is our quarterback of the future here. So why would you want to add a third quarterback to the mix? We needed other positions. Forget just the quarterback position, we thought this was the best available player for us. It was an easy decision for us.”

This is by far the most praise Smith has offered for Glennon since he took over as the team’s new head coach.

In fact, Smith was surprisingly standoffish regarding Glennon’s role with the team and they would later sign veteran QB Josh McCown in free agency, which only led to further questions about his future with the team.

Smith mentioned that he likes Glennon’s size at the position, which could have played into their decision to pass on Johnny Manziel in the early portion of round one.

“I like having a 6-5 guy versus a 5-9 or 5-10 corner and throwing the ball up,” Smith said.

Tampa Bay used the No. 73 pick on Glennon last year. He wound up taking over for Josh Freeman in Week 4 and would go on to throw for 2,608 yards while completing 59.4 percent of his passes and contributing 19 touchdowns.

Pro Football Focus rated Glennon as the No. 34 quarterback in the league out of 42 qualifying players.