Buccaneers GM Jason Licht open to bringing in new backup QB, Baker Mayfield a possibility?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht may be saying plenty with what he isn't actually saying out loud these days. For example, Licht was given a chance Monday to flat-out deny previous reports that said the relationship between quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bruce Arians had been "souring" throughout the 2021 campaign and before Brady's initial retirement and later return to the club, but the executive instead danced around the topic. 

Per Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times (h/t Yahoo Sports), Licht spoke with Adam Schein of SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio and suggested he could look for a different veteran backup signal-caller than Blaine Gabbert, who has served as QB2 throughout Brady's tenure with the Buccaneers. 

"We had Blaine last year on our roster, and that can be a possibility still," Licht explained. "But we’re still kind of checking out the entire market here, and we’ll see what happens here." 

The Cleveland Browns may secretly be begging teams to take 2018 first-overall draft pick Baker Mayfield and his $18.858 million in fully guaranteed money for next season off their hands after they acquired Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans last week. Licht was asked about potentially pursuing the 26-year-old. 

"I don’t want to talk about a player that’s on another team’s roster right now," the GM responded. "We still may add a veteran quarterback, but we’re just going to have to kind of see how it goes here." 

One immediate thought is that the Buccaneers are among teams waiting to see if the Browns will cut Mayfield if no trade materializes before next month's NFL Draft. On paper, Mayfield would be an upgrade over both Gabbert and 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask, and he could experience a career reset learning under the G.O.A.T. for at least one season.