After finishing 7-9 in 2019, Bruce Arians’ first season as head coach, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers believed they had the makings, in some ways, of a roster that could compete for championships in the years ahead. They also had some uncertainty at the most important position on that roster, as quarterback Jameis Winston was coming off a season in which he threw 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions.
The Buccaneers contemplated their choices and came up with three possible paths forward at quarterback. Option 1: Sign Winston, who had just played the final year on his rookie contract, to a new multi-year deal and try to get more good and less bad out of his play. Option 2: Sign Teddy Bridgewater, who went 5-0 in five starts in place of the Saints’ Drew Brees in 2019. Option 3: Swing for the fences and try to lure the G.O.A.T, Tom Brady, to Tampa.
The Buccaneers certainly thought they could succeed with Bridgewater, but when Brady chose Tampa they couldn’t pass on that opportunity. The results are legendary – Brady led the Bucs to victory in Super Bowl LV at the end of his first season, adding a seventh championship ring to his personal collection, and threw for 14,643 yards and 108 touchdowns between the ages of 43-45.
Turns out the Bucs had been interested in the former Louisville star for quite some time. In General Manager Jason Licht’s first season running the Bucs’ draft, in 2014, the Minnesota Vikings selected Bridgewater with the last pick of the first round, but Licht had him in for a pre-draft visit and was contemplating selecting him at some point. Now, 11 years after that draft and five years after considering him as a starting option for an eventual championshp team, the Buccaneers have finally united with Bridgewater. The 12th-year veteran signed a one-year deal with Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
“We had him in here in 2014 for the draft…there might have been a situation where we would have taken him if he fell a little further,” said Licht. “A few years ago, he was what was behind Door Number Two. We talked about that today on the sideline. We ended up with Tom Brady, but now we have Teddy on the roster. You can’t have everything…well, you can have everything, just not all at once [laughs].”