Longtime NFL writer and insider Peter King weighed in on the possibility of Tom Brady becoming a Tampa Bay Buccaneer while appearing on WEEI’s Dale and Keefe on Thursday.
King noted that he has heard would-be free agent quarterback Jameis Winston may be asking for more than the Buccaneers are comfortable paying in their current contract negotiations:
“The one that I believe is the sleeping giant in this is Tampa Bay,” King said. “And when I say that if Jameis Winston is realistic with what his contract demands/requests, whatever they are, in my opinion, he will be the quarterback of the Bucs next year. But, I don’t know that. I am hearing some things out of Tampa that he might be, and his agents might want a little bit more money than the Bucs want to pay. And we’ll see if that pans out. We’ll definitely see.”
King went on to cite Tampa Bay’s plethora of offensive skill-position talent as a reason they would be an attractive landing sport for the six-time Super Bowl champion:
“Look, they have a pretty good offensive line and they’ve got two excellent receivers [Chris Godwin and Mike Evans],” King said. “They’ve got a really good young tight end [O.J. Howard], and they have a very imaginative head coach and offensive coordinator in the passing game.”
Last week, chatter emerged from Senior Bowl week that the Buccaneers may pursue potentially-former Los Angeles Chargers signal-caller, Philip Rivers, should they decide to move on from Winston.
Rivers recently relocated his family from San Diego to Florida, adding further fuel to that fire.
Prior to that, J.C. Cornell of The Draft Network reported Winston was seeking a contract in excess of $30 million in annual value and would be “extremely unhappy” if the team applied the franchise tag to him instead of working out a long-term extension.
With more unsettled quarterback situations across the NFL than any other offseason in recent memory, this is likely not the last rumor regarding the Buccaneers potentially going in another direction.
Typically, franchise quarterbacks do not change hands in free agency. However, with Rivers, Brady, Ryan Tannehill, Drew Brees, Andy Dalton, Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater all potentially being available at this early stage of the offseason, there is leverage to be had for both teams and players alike.
