All the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did was upgrade at quarterback.
In the 2020 offseason, the Bucs allowed former 2015 first-round pick Jameis Winston to walk in free agency and signed the greatest quarterback of the millennium in Tom Brady. Tampa Bay also surrounded Brady with a bevy of weapons, some of which were already on the roster in Mike Evans and Ronald Jones, and threw in a few more in Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski, and Antonio Brown for good measure.
Bucs Wire managing editor Luke Easterling posits the success Brady is having in Tampa Bay was the catalyst for the Los Angeles Rams trading with the Detroit Lions and adding Pro Bowler Matthew Stafford at starting quarterback.
The results speak for themselves, as the Bucs are preparing for a Super Bowl LV matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs after rattling off a franchise-record seven straight wins, including three straight road playoff victories.
It’s unfair to compare any other quarterback to Brady, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Rams’ brass looked at the quick turnaround in Tampa Bay and decided they had similar pieces in place to make that kind of run, if they had the right quarterback to take them to that next level.
The NFL is a copycat league, even in talent acquisition and roster construction.
If a team feels they are a quarterback away and already have the rest of the roster in place, what are a few draft picks, or mortgaging the team’s future for a three-year span, to pick up a true game-changer at quarterback?
If it worked for the Buccaneers and Brady, how much more would it work out with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson?
There is no doubt teams are kicking around the idea of how Watson could help them. If Brady wins the Super Bowl in Tampa, it may give a front office enough guts to test Texans general manager Nick Caserio’s “zero interest” in trading Watson.
