Buccaneers re-sign QB Blaine Gabbert amid Baker Mayfield rumors

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield may have lost another potential landing spot as he looks to continue his career elsewhere following his employer's controversial acquisition of star signal-caller Deshaun Watson last month. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced on Wednesday that they've re-signed backup quarterback and 2011 first-round draft pick Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert has served as QB2 each season future Hall of Famer Tom Brady has been atop Tampa Bay's depth chart at the sport's most important position and may now be the favorite to retain that role over 2021 second-round selection Kyle Trask. 

The Buccaneers also have Ryan Griffin on the roster. 

In total, Gabbert has appeared in just 10 regular-season games since the start of the 2020 campaign and completed 16-of-27 passes for 210 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions over that time. His status with the Buccaneers was in question last month, though, when general manager Jason Licht hinted that he was open to signing a different backup quarterback this spring. 

"I don’t want to talk about a player that’s on another team’s roster right now," Licht responded when asked about possibly pursuing a trade for Mayfield, who has a fully guaranteed salary of $18.858 million for 2022. "We still may add a veteran quarterback, but we’re just going to have to kind of see how it goes here." 

The Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks may be among teams waiting to see if the Browns will cut Mayfield assuming no club trades for his services before or during the upcoming NFL Draft. Browns general manager Andrew Berry teased during the league's annual meetings that Mayfield could serve as Watson's backup later this year, but logic suggests that's unlikely considering the details of what seems to be an inevitable divorce.