Mike Glennon: 5 best fits in NFL free agency
By John Buhler
Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup quarterback Mike Glennon could make some serious cash in free agency. Here are the five best landing spots for him this spring.
Quarterback Mike Glennon is a former third round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2013 NFL Draft out of North Carolina State University. As a rookie, Glennon started 13 games for the Buccaneers, but only went 4-9 as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback.
He was usurped on the Tampa Bay quarterback depth chart when Lovie Smith brought in veteran Josh McCown in 2014. When that season ended disastrously, Tampa Bay used the No. 1 overall pick to select 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston out of Florida State University to be the Buccaneers’ new franchise quarterback.
Glennon has played sparingly the last three seasons, but has been considered to be a top-tier backup quarterback in the NFL. That being said, he is hitting unrestricted free agency this spring. Whether he is best served as a backup or as a potential starter, here are the five best landing spots for Glennon in NFL free agency.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC, South
Could Glennon stick with the Buccaneers for another contract? That doesn’t seem very likely, but we could theoretically see Glennon go down the Matt Moore/Chad Henne career path of being a career backup in Florida. Glennon could get paid handsomely to not get hit and continue to pay no income tax, which is always good.
Tampa Bay may not think that Glennon has the gunslinger mentality to let it rip in Dirk Koetter’s Air Coryell. However, the Buccaneers do know what exactly they have in Glennon. He has the ability to come in for a four-week stretch and keep the Buccaneers afloat should anything bad happen to Winston in the short-term.
The Buccaneers are in great position with the 2017 NFL salary cap. General manager Jason Licht will have roughly $69,916,655 to work with this offseason to improve his football team. Given Tampa Bay’s terrible history with quarterbacks, why would they let a low ceiling, high floor backup walk out of town for nothing?
The Buccaneers do have other needs besides backup quarterback, but this team will only go anywhere if it has stability at the position. They can win with Winston and tread water with Glennon. This would be the third year in Koetter’s Air Coryell, so Tampa Bay may be more comfortable with letting Glennon play some snaps late in blowouts.
That being said, if Glennon opts to come back to Tampa Bay on a new contract, that will pigeon-hole his career arc considerably. He’d be viewed as strictly a backup and an emergency going forward. If Glennon ever wants to be the man leading an NFL team, he’ll have to leave Tampa Bay this offseason.