Will the Bucs draft a new quarterback this year? That was the question prior to the 2023 NFL Draft.

Some NFL mock drafts had Tampa Bay selecting Kentucky’s Will Levis, Florida’s Anthony Richardson or Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker in the first round.

But the Bucs already have a new quarterback this year in veteran Baker Mayfield.

According to former Tampa Bay head coach and Bucs Ring of Honor member Bruce Arians, Mayfield is better than any of the quarterbacks that are in this year’s NFL Draft. And that includes Alabama’s Bryce Young, who was drafted No. 1 overall by Carolina, and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, who was widely regarded as the second-best quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft and went to Houston at No. 2.

“I can honestly say out of these four, I had Baker rated higher,” Arians said on Monday at his Arians Family Foundation gala. “That’s an honest opinion – coming out [of Oklahoma].”

Mayfield, who won the Heisman Trophy with the Sooners went No. 1 overall to Cleveland in 2018.

“That’s not chopped liver,” Arians said. “He had a tough time playing hurt and things didn’t work in Cleveland. That happens to a lot of guys. Timmy Couch was no bust. Timmy Couch got broken the hell up in Cleveland. I coached him. Helluva player.”

Baker Mayfield Looking To Bounce Back With The Bucs

QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
Photo By: USA Today

In 2020, Baker Mayfield led the Browns back to the playoffs after a 17-year absence. Cleveland finished 11-5 and beat Pittsburgh in the first round before losing to eventual AFC Champion Kansas City. Mayfield threw 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in the 2020 regular season.

But Mayfield suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder and the Browns regressed to 8-9, while the star quarterback threw just 17 TDs and 13 INTs. Mayfield went from being the face of the franchise in Cleveland to a journeyman QB in an instant. The Browns traded him to Carolina after they traded for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Midway through the season after losing his starting job after a 1-5 record, Mayfield was released and claimed off waivers by the Rams where he went 1-3 as a starter. Now Mayfield is on his fourth team in one calendar year and trying to resurrect his NFL career in Tampa Bay.

Bruce Arians Loves Baker Mayfield’s Moxie

Bucs QB Kyle Trask and former head coach Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Arians loves the fact that the Bucs signed Baker Mayfield, who will compete with Kyle Trask, the team’s 2021 second-round pick. The “Quarterback Whisperer” says that Mayfield has one big trait that he likes.

“Moxie,” Arians said. “When I was with CBS I was fortunate enough to do three of his games. Sitting down with him, watching him on Friday practices – because they used to have a lot of two-minute drills in Cleveland and the D (defense) got after their ass on Friday. I said, ‘I love this kid.’

“He was super accurate coming out. You never had to worry about his (6-foot-1) height because his line was 6-foot-7, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, etc. That never was a problem.”

Arians said that the Bucs will be having quite the quarterback competition between Mayfield and Trask, a QB that Arians had a hand in drafting, this summer in training camp.

“And I like Kyle,” Arians said. “I think this is going to be a nice battle – a nice battle. But I love [Mayfield’s] moxie.”

Bucs Searching For No. 3 Quarterback

Pewter Report has learned that the Bucs will go in another direction for the third-string quarterback position that veteran Ryan Griffin sometimes occupied either on the 53-man roster or on the practice squad. The Bucs didn’t draft a quarterback this year, but will have a pair of rookies in for tryouts at the rookie mini-camp. Either Southeastern’s Kaylan Wiggins and Incarnate Word’s Lindsey Scott could be an option as the No. 3 QB depending on how they fare next week in their try-outs.