Bucs Mailbag: Will Tampa Bay Draft A QB In 2024?

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Hey Scott, still waiting on that list of college QBs to watch this season. Any chance you can drop it soon? Being practical that Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask may not become who we expect/want.

North Carolina QB Drake Maye – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Yes, I’m still doing research on the expected QB class of the 2024 NFL Draft and will have that list in two weeks in an SR’s Fab 5 column on Friday, July 21. I had 5 Things Todd Bowles Must Do In 2023 in last week’s SR’s Fab 5, and this Friday’s column will feature 5 Things Dave Canales Must Do In 2023. After that, I’ll focus on the QBs in next year’s draft just in time for the start of college football season.

I’m glad that the Bucs did not address the QB position in this year’s draft. It’s worth taking a shot on Baker Mayfield as a reclamation project and seeing if Kyle Trask can emerge as a starting-caliber quarterback first. If the Bucs strike out this year with Mayfield and Trask, then the team can go all-in on another quarterback with a premium draft pick. But Tampa Bay already has a second-rounder invested in Trask, so why not use this season to determine if he has any potential or if he was a wasted pick before investing yet another draft choice on a QB?

I’ll have a more in-depth report in a few weeks, but the 2024 QB draft class is more than just USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Underclassmen like Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Duke’s Riley Leonard, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Colorado’s Shedur Sanders should all get drafted early. And a slew of really intriguing senior prospects like Auburn’s Bo Nix, Florida State’s Jordan Travis, Washington’s Michael Penix, Jr., LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Tennessee’s Joe Milton III, Tulane’s Michael Pratt, Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed, Washington State’s Cameron Ward, Arkansas’ K.J. Jefferson, Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall and Kansas State’s Will Howard make quarterback much deeper than in recent memory.

If the Bucs have success with just one quarterback – either Mayfield or Trask – the team would probably draft another one in 2024 for competition and depth. It’s just to hard to speculate right now before we see what Mayfield and Trask can do in Dave Canales’ new offense.

QUESTION: If the Bucs finish 8-9 again, do you think they pick a QB in the draft? And who is their way-too-early pick?

USC QB Caleb Williams – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: It really depends on how either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask plays at quarterback this season. Are they the reason why the Bucs would finish 8-9 again in 2023? Are major injuries the culprit? Is it a letdown from the defense that causes another losing season in Tampa Bay? The Bucs would love for either Mayfield to win the job and re-sign him, or for Trask, who is under contract through 2024, to pan out as the starter.

Taking a chance on another quarterback via the draft has not been a winning proposition for this franchise. In fact, the Bucs have never re-signed one of their drafted quarterbacks to a second contract. The latest quarterback drafted by the Bucs to fail was Jameis Winston, who was the starter from 2015-19. Winston was the No. 1 overall pick in 2015, which proves that there are no guarantees when drafting a quarterback – even in the Top 5.

If neither Mayfield nor Trask is the answer in 2023, then quarterback immediately becomes a No. 1 priority for the Bucs. Which quarterback the Bucs would take and in what round would simply depend on where Tampa Bay selects. The 2024 QB class looks robust as of right now, with a higher number of better quality Day 2 prospects than in recent years. So there would be a chance that the Bucs may wait until the second round to grab a quarterback. Again, it all depends on where Tampa Bay selects within the round.

If QB is not the top need, it very well could be inside linebacker depending on the future of Devin White and the aging Lavonte David in red and pewter. And does Luke Goedeke pan out, or will the Bucs need to draft a right tackle? Can Shaq Barrett return to his Pro Bowl form, and can Joe Tryon-Shoyinka live up to his potential? Or do the Bucs need to address outside linebacker early again to replace them? Clemson inside linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Miami right tackle Zion Nelson, and Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner and Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse are some names to know.

QUESTION: Can the team just come out say it’s a rebuild? Everyone hides it. I would love it if we were the first team that admitted it and we can get on board and watch it grow correctly.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The Bucs don’t believe they are in rebuilding mode, nor should they think that. While Tampa Bay’s 8-9 record was disappointing, the team did win the NFC South for a second straight year, and the Bucs have more players who have been to a Pro Bowl (nine) on their roster than any other team in the division.

That’s not to say that the 2023 Bucs aren’t without questionable areas on the roster. But if the team can find some favorable answers to those questions this fall, there is no reason to believe that Tampa Bay cannot compete for the NFC South championship again and make the postseason for a fourth straight season.

No general manager or head coach wants to go through a rebuilding process, and the fact that a couple of big name free agents re-signed with Tampa Bay in cornerback Jamel Dean and linebacker Lavonte David is another reason why the Bucs aren’t necessarily rebuilding. Jason Licht and Todd Bowles do not want to blow the team up and rebuild it. They believe if Dave Canales’ offense can be successful and either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask can be an effective trigger man, that the Bucs are not far away from another legitimate Super Bowl run – perhaps in two years.

QUESTION: Haven’t seen much about cap space lately. Do we have any room to make some cheap free agent additions after seeing the roster in action during/post-training camp?

Former Bucs DL Will Gholston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Not right now, but that should change after the Bucs extend the contract of star wide receiver Mike Evans. Depending on how long the extension is, the move should create around $10 million of additional cap space. The Bucs only have $1,409,635 in available salary cap space right now, according to OverTheCap.com, and the team has yet to sign second-round pick Cody Mauch.

Lowering Evans’ salary cap number of $23,698,500, which is the highest on the team right now, to around $12 million-$13 million in 2o23 should help the team greatly. Not only will the Bucs have enough money to sign their practice squad players in early September and some emergency in-season signings when injuries strike, but Tampa Bay should have enough cap room to perhaps make a waiver wire claim when roster cut-downs occur or a cheap value free agent signing.

Last year, the Bucs re-signed outside linebacker Carl Nassib in August during training camp. A couple of veteran free agents familiar with the Bucs scheme that are currently available are defensive tackles Will Gholston and Akiem Hicks and safety Logan Ryan. All three are over the age of 30 and could come fairly cheap as veteran reserves.

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