With Tom Brady announcing his retirement from football on Wednesday, the biggest question the Bucs had entering the offseason has now been answered. But, of course, it now creates another massive question for Tampa Bay as free agency and the NFL Draft approach: Who will play quarterback for the Bucs in 2023?

There are a few different routes to go, and none of them are as exciting as having Brady in town for another year. The only quarterback under contract is Kyle Trask, the team’s 2021 second-round pick. The trade market has some big names, including Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr, but it’s hard to see anything happening there for the Bucs. 

Bucs QB Tom Brady and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – Photo by: USA Today

The free agency market is unlikely to net Tampa Bay its quarterback of the future either. Head coach Todd Bowles may not want to roll with a rookie signal-caller, especially with the state of the draft class and where the Bucs are picking (No. 19 overall).

So, what’s the solution? Finding a bridge quarterback for 2023 and seeing where things are next offseason feels like the way forward for the Bucs. And if that’s the route they go, these are the quarterbacks who are available – or expected to be available – to sign a potential one-year prove-it deal this offseason:

Baker Mayfield

2022 Stats – Panthers, Rams
201-of-335 (60.0%) for 2,163 yards, 10 TDs, 8 INTs

Mayfield began his career as the No. 1 overall pick, spending the first four seasons of his career with the Browns. He took Cleveland to the playoffs in 2020, which was the franchise’s first playoff appearance since the 2002 season. But things went downhill fast for the former Heisman Trophy winner, with the Browns sending him to the Panthers in a trade after trading for his replacement, Deshaun Watson. Nothing went right for Mayfield with Carolina, who released him in December.

He landed with the Rams and just a few days later, he was thrust into action in a Thursday Night Football game against the Raiders. He finished 22-of-35 for 230 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left. Los Angeles went 2-3 down the stretch with Mayfield under center, and he now finds himself as a free agent looking for a new home as he enters his age-28 season.

Could Tampa Bay be that home? He worked with Bucs offensive coordinator candidate Todd Monken in Cleveland, and he’ll come cheap. Spotrac projects his market value to land somewhere around $6.5 million per year for his next contract.

Taylor Heinicke

2022 Stats – Commanders
161-of-259 (62.2%) for 1,859 passing yards, 12 TDs, 6 INTs
28 rushes for 96 yards, 1 TD

Washington QB Taylor Heinicke – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs are certainly familiar with Heinicke, who made his first career start against them in the 2020 NFC Wild Card Round. He helped a 7-9 Washington team put up a fight against the eventual Super Bowl champions, throwing for 306 yards, a touchdown and an interception while rushing for 46 yards and another touchdown on six carries. Then, in 2021, Heinicke beat the Bucs with a 256-yard, one-touchdown performance on 26-of-32 passing.

Heinicke revived his career in the XFL during the short-lived 2020 season before signing on with Washington. He’s been an off-and-on starter for the Commanders (and the Washington Football Team before that), and he now finds himself as a free agent. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder will be 30 when the 2023 season begins, so it’s hard to view him as a long-term option even if he had shown consistency over the course of his career. Nonetheless, Heinicke feels like the quintessential bridge quarterback for a team in flux.

Jacoby Brissett

2022 Stats – Browns
236-of-369 (64.0%) for 2,608 yards, 12 TDs, 6 INTs
49 rushes for 243 yards, 2 TDs

Speaking of quintessential bridge quarterbacks, Brissett certainly qualifies as one. That’s what he’s been during his NFL career, and he hasn’t been the worst caretaker signal-caller when called upon. When it became clear that Andrew Luck would miss games in the 2017 season with a shoulder injury, the Colts acquired Brissett. And with Luck missing the whole season, Brissett – who was previously with Brady and the Patriots – threw for 3,098 yards and 13 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He then played 15 games in 2019 after Luck suddenly retired, completing 60.8% of his passes for 2,942 yards, a career-high 18 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Brissett backed up Tua Tagovailoa for the Dolphins in 2021, playing in 11 games. And in 2022, he started for the Browns while Deshaun Watson served his suspension. He beat the Bucs this past November. There’s certainly no shortage of experience with Brissett, and while he’s not flashy or exciting, he’s plenty serviceable if the Bucs are truly looking for someone to bridge to their next quarterback.

Teddy Bridgewater

2022 Stats – Dolphins
49-of-79 (62.0%) for 683 yards, 4 TDs, 4 INTs

Bridgewater – whose name literally has the word “bridge” in it – is someone who many considered a potential Bucs target in free agency back in 2020 when the team was looking to potentially move on from Jameis Winston. The team obviously upgraded in the biggest way possible by luring Brady to town. Bridgewater instead went on to play 15 games for the Panthers in 2020 and 14 games for the Broncos in 2021 before seeing action in five games with the Dolphins this year. Like Brissett, Bridgewater won’t wow anyone at this stage in his career, but as far as bridge guys go, he’s at least in the conversation.

The former Louisville standout has played 78 games since entering the league as a first-round pick with the Vikings in 2014, and miraculously made it back from the catastrophic knee injury he suffered in 2016 to become something of a journeyman quarterback. He threw for a career-high 3,733 yards with Carolina in 2020 before posting a career-high 18 passing touchdowns with Denver in 2021.

Jameis Winston

2022 Stats – Saints
73-of-115 (63.5%) for 858 yards, 4 TDs, 5 INTs

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Winston is currently under contract with the Saints for the 2023 season, but his future in New Orleans is unclear – to put it mildly. The cap-strapped Saints can save $4.4 million by cutting him, and they likely will. The 2022 season was an odd one for the former Heisman Trophy winner. He began the season as the starter for the Saints, suffered four cracked vertebrae, played through the injuries and then sat the rest of the season behind a struggling Andy Dalton.

Winston was initially healing from those back issues, but there was a lot of ambiguity surrounding whether or not he was ready to return near the end of the season. He never did, and it’s hard to envision him being in the Saints’ plans going forward.

Winston was the Bucs’ No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and his five-year tenure as Tampa Bay’s quarterback was up-and-down. The former Florida State star showed obvious flashes of his talent, but turnover problems became the story of his career. After a 33-touchdown, 30-interception season in 2019, the Bucs moved on and signed Brady. Winston remains the franchise’s leader in passing yards (19,737), passing touchdowns (121), completions (1,563) and passing attempts (2,548). Given his prior history with Tampa Bay and the injuries he’s dealt with since he left, it feels unlikely that his age-29 season will be in Tampa. But he very well could be available as an option because there aren’t many good ones.

Gardner Minshew

2022 Stats – Eagles
44-of-76 (57.9%) for 663 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs

“Minshew Mania” took over Jacksonville for a short while in 2019, when the former Washington State standout threw for 3,271 yards and 21 touchdowns to six interceptions in 14 games as a rookie. He then totaled 2,259 yards and 16 touchdowns to five interceptions in nine games during the 2020 season, but his opportunities have diminished since. In 2021, he appeared in four games for the Eagles, throwing for 439 yards and four scores to one interception. And in relief of Jalen Hurts this year, he played in five games, completing 57.9% of his passes for 663 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Minshew will only be 27 when the 2023 season begins, so he’s on the younger side of these free agent quarterback options. Given how little he’s played over the last two seasons, he’s unlikely to command an exorbitant salary, so if Tampa Bay is looking for a younger, cheaper signal-caller who is looking for an opportunity to prove that he deserves more in the future, Minshew would be right up that alley.

Sam Darnold

2022 Stats – Panthers
82-of-140 (58.6%) for 1,143 yards, 7 TDs, 3 INTs

The Bucs are certainly familiar with Darnold, having seen him throw for 341 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-37 passing against them on New Year’s Day of this year. The 25-year-old is also plenty familiar with Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, who was his coach during his 2018 rookie season. Bowles was the head coach of the Jets when they selected Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick, and he was ultimately fired after the quarterback’s rookie season.

Not much has panned out for the former USC Trojan in the NFL. He spent three seasons in New York before the team moved on by trading him to the Panthers and drafting Zach Wilson in 2021. Darnold’s 2021 season was nightmarish, and 2022 didn’t start out much better as he spent the first portion of the year dealing with an injury. But upon his return, he helped Carolina to a 4-2 record down the stretch, with his big day against Tampa Bay being one of his only two losses of the year. Bowles circling back around and bringing in the last quarterback he worked with at his previous head coaching stop feels unlikely, but crazier things have happened.

Kyle Trask

2022 Stats – Bucs
3-of-9 (33.3%) for 23 yards

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The final bridge option is someone who is already in-house. It’s highly unlikely that Trask turns into the Bucs’ quarterback of the future. He was drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft and has spent two years learning the offense. Now, he’ll have to learn a new offense when the team hires its new offensive coordinator, which will put him on even footing with whoever the Bucs bring in to compete for the starting quarterback job. He wasn’t able to beat out Blaine Gabbert to back up Brady in 2022, and he only just made his NFL debut in Week 18.

Trask has yet to get any reps with the Bucs’ first-team offense, instead working with the threes and fours – and sometimes the twos – during training camp. The former Florida Gator turns 25 in March and is up against it in terms of proving that he can be a viable starting option for Tampa Bay. But while he may not be the future of the position for the Bucs, he may end up being the quarterback of the now until the team figures out its plan going forward.

Secret Option: Anyone Else?

The above list certainly isn’t exhaustive, as Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Drew Lock and Tyler Huntley are all free agents as well. Not to mention, Colts quarterback Matt Ryan and Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz could soon be on the market as well. But the fact is that none of those names – and likely none of the names above – are going to inspire much confidence in a fan base who has watched Brady for the last three years.

But that’s how it always is with bridge quarterbacks, and the Bucs may not have any other suitable routes to take this offseason.