It’s Not A Given That Baker Mayfield Will Assume Tom Brady’s QB Throne in Tampa Bay

PLUS: Buffalo Bills Making Moves To Bolster Defense, Romeo Doubs Bold Statement On Jordan Love

Good morning! It is Monday which means my NFL newsletter has appeared in your email inbox and it will continue to do so as the week goes on. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. 

In today’s newsletter: 

• What Bucs OC Said On The QB Competition 

• Romeo Doubs Bold Statement About Jordan Love

• Bills Bolster Their Defense With 2 Signings

• Random Stat & Question of the day

It’s Not A Given That Baker Mayfield Will Assume Tom Brady’s QB Throne in Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the opportunity to witness greatness first hand as Brady left New England to make his way down to the sunshine state back in 2020. An organization that experienced years of sub bar QB play instantly had one of the greatest QBs of all time. 

I can’t imagine what that’s like.

As a Bucs fan you go through years of no playoff berths and low expectations and then in a moment, everything changed. It almost feels similar to the Jets scoring Aaron Rodgers this off-season. 

After 3 years with the Buccaneers that included bringing the coveted Lombardi Trophy to Tampa Bay, Tom Brady called it quits and retired for the 2nd season in a row. Who knows. Maybe he comes back and retires next season as well and keeps the streak going.

In all honesty I believe he’s actually hanging it up for good this time. 

Now the Buccaneers have a decision to make. Who is going to be the starter and heir apparent to Tom Brady in Tampa Bay? 

One would assume that the signing of Baker Mayfield to a 1 year $4 million dollar deal would indicate Mayfield assuming the QB throne in Tampa. However, with Bucs 2021 2nd round pick QB Kyle Trask on the roster, Mayfield has not yet secured the starting job.

In the past few days Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales made it clear that there’s going to be a QB competition in Tampa Bay. He shared with Fox 13’s No Days Off Podcast that Trask has “high hopes” coming in as a 2nd round pick and added that he had the opportunity to learn under Tom Brady for one season. 

This is what he had to say about Baker Mayfield. 

“On the flip side, too, I think Baker, would he love to be named the starter? I’m sure. But Baker also knows this is his road back, too. From Cleveland to Carolina and L.A… And so for him to be able to come out here to win the team over in his own right, to perform and to show them that he can be the caliber quarterback that he believes he can be, I think I owe it to both of them and to the team to put the best guy out there.”

Baker Mayfield being the starter isn’t a lock considering the Bucs signed Baker to only a $4 million dollar contract this off-season. My guess would be that Baker beats out Kyle Trask and leads the Bucs come week 1. 

However, because of the minimal contract Baker received the Bucs likely wouldn’t hesitate to give Trask a shot if Baker struggles. 

Romeo Doub’s Bold Statement About Jordan Love 

Over the past few days Packers 2nd year receiver Romeo Doubs made some noise with a short but bold declaration about Jordan Love. 

Here’s what he told Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin’s Dennis Krause, 

"I think Jordan can do it. I think Jordan is a really good quarterback. When you go from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan, Aaron was a really great quarterback, but I believe Jordan can do the same exact thing. So I don't really see what's the big difference."

Now that’s a hot take if you’ve ever heard one. This means that Doub’s believes that Jordan Love is a hall of fame talent. Of course with me being a Packers fan you all know I hope this is the case. 

My guess is that Doubs just wants to hype up his guy. 

Everyone is questioning Jordan Love outside the building and Doubs wants people to know that he believes in Love. Most outsiders would likely say it’s delusional confidence but none of us have witnessed Jordan Love consistently at practice like Romeo Doubs has over the past year.

The Packers have had the luxury of top tier QB play for nearly 3 decades going from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. Now the question everyone is asking is, can they really do it again? Probability would say there’s no way, but you never know. 

If there is not a big difference between Love and Rodgers I’ll be the happiest man alive. 

Bills Bolster Their Defense With 2 Big Signings 

The Buffalo Bills have built one of the most elite defenses in football. In 2022 they finished as the second best scoring defense allowing only 17.9 points per game. 

Over the weekend they signed DT Ed Oliver to a 4 year $68 million dollar extension. He got the 6th most guaranteed money for the DT position. 

Early Monday morning news broke from Ian Rapoport that the Bills signed former Ram Leonard Floyd to a 1 year deal. Even though Floyd is nearing 31 years old he was still productive in 2022 ending the year with 9 sacks. 

In other big news for the Bills early this morning they had a groundbreaking ceremony to start building their new $1.4 billion dollar stadium that is predicted to be completed in time for the 2026 season. 

Random Stat Of The Day

The Rams had the most losses of a defending Super Bowl champion in 2022 with 12. 

Random Question Of The Day

I have decided to add a new section to this newsletter (at least for today). I used a random question generator and here’s the question it gave me today. 

“If you were offered the position of mayor of your city, would you take it?” 

That’s going to be a no for me. I think everyone is built to do a certain kind of thing and being a mayor is definitely not something that would make me want to get out of bed in the morning. I much prefer sitting here on my couch early in the morning drinking coffee and writing about what’s happening around the NFL. 

That’s all for today!