NFL Draft 2024: Quarterbacks the Bucs could be tempted to draft

If the board falls the correct way, the Bucs may be tempted to draft a quarterback for the future.
Let’s get this out of the way right now. Baker Mayfield is, and should be, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback of the near future. The Bucs did not pay him $100 million to hand over the reins to a rookie, but that doesn’t mean the future should be overlooked at the expense of the now.

Consider the Bucs’ decision to select a quarterback in the NFL Draft to be both hypothetical and potentially reversible.

Drafting Kyle Trask to sit behind Tom Brady did not work out, and he will most likely spend his final season in Tampa Bay this year. Maybe the Bucs give him a try on a cheap deal in 2025, but he’s clearly the backup, and an unproven one at that.

If the Bucs select a quarterback in this draft, the franchise will have the opportunity to do what it should have done with Trask in 2021. There is a case to be made for Tampa Bay selecting a player and putting him behind Baker to learn from someone who has been through a lot in his career while also assimilating himself into the system.

There’s not an immediate need to draft a quarterback, but there is some high upside to doing so especially if the Bucs can land the right guy with the right pick.
With that in mind, a few quarterbacks could be intriguing options if they’re on the board at the right time.

NFL Draft 2024: Quarterbacks the Bucs could be tempted to draft
Jordan Travis, QB/Florida State
PFF QB Rank: 9th
Projected Pick: Round 5-6

If Jordan Travis didn’t suffer a brutal leg injury near the end of Florida State’s season, he might be getting talked about the way everyone is praising Michael Penix. The Noles were robbed of a spot in the College Football Playoff and the injury to Travis denied us the chance to see him on a stage that would have surely boosted his draft stock.

That all could be a blessing in disguise for Travis and the Bucs.

Travis was a game changer when healthy, tossing 20 touchdowns and two picks last season. He’s a mobility danger who created plays inside and outside the pocket and found ways to use his best target, Keon Coleman.

Travis would not be pressured to return from his leg injury in Tampa Bay, giving him the most time to recover. Consider what the Packers did with Jordan Love and what the Bucs would have missed out on with Jalen Hurts if they had re-signed him in 2020.