Buccaneers To Sign QB Brett Rypien

After the team saw Winston finish his tenure with a run of good health (with Ryan Fitzpatrick work mixed in during a turbulent 2018 Winston season), Tom Brady held up despite extending his historic career to an age-45 season. Baker Mayfield then beat out Kyle Trask for the job in 2023 and went 54-for-54 in starts from 2023-25. Mayfield, however, will end this string of good Bucs QB health due to a thumb dislocation — an injury poised to sideline the recently extended starter for nearly a month.

Rookie UDFA Jalon Daniels is in line to start for the Bucs in Week 4, but the team is adding some insurance. Brett Rypien is joining Tampa Bay on a practice squad deal, Fox Sports’ Greg Auman tweets. Rypien was with the Rams during the first half of the 2023 season, working with then-Los Angeles QBs coach Zac Robinson, who is now the Bucs’ offensive coordinator.

Rypien, 30, will join Easton Stick on Tampa Bay’s P-squad. Seeing Mayfield previously refuse to allow various injuries to keep him out of the lineup during his tenure, the Bucs entered the season with two QBs on their 53-man roster. Another passer will join the duo soon. Will it be Stick or Rypien?

Neither player offers much promise as an emergency option. Stick saw action as Justin Herbert’s backup in 2023, going 0-4 as the Chargers’ starter during Giff Smith’s short interim HC tenure. Stick, 31, has not seen game action since. Rypien, who has also not played in a game since the 2023 season, is 2-2 as a career starter. Formerly a Broncos backup who lasted through the 2022 season — before being replaced by Sean Payton hire Jarrett Stidham — Rypien struggled in his one Rams start to the point the team cut him and moved to Carson Wentz as a replacement.

Since his Rams stay, Rypien has made stops with the Seahawks, Jets, Bears, Vikings, Bengals, Colts, Vikings again, and with the Texans. The Houston stint was short-lived, with the team cutting him after two weeks last month. The Bucs are team No. 10 for Rypien, who is approaching ex-Buccaneer Josh Johnson’s level eight years into his career.