There have been rumors that the Buccaneers are interested in Johnny Manziel. They also in theory could have an eye on Blake Bortles. One or both of those quarterbacks potentially could be available at No. 8.
There are also rumors that Tampa Bay is trying to trade Mike Glennon. They already signed Josh McCown, and they won’t want Glennon if they draft another quarterback.
ESPN beat writer Pat Yasinkas says General Manager Jason Licht will listen to offers for Glennon.
This could, of course, all be a smokescreen. Maybe the Bucs are trying to bluff one of the teams in front of them into selecting a quarterback so the guy they really want is available at No. 8. That kind of stuff happens all the time.
The puzzle pieces will start falling into place a week from today.
Glennon is an intriguing prospect. He played surprisingly well as a rookie. Among rookies who’ve attempted at least 100 passes since 2000, only a half dozen had better passer ratings. If not in Tampa Bay, Glennon should be a No. 2 somewhere on opening day.
| HIGHEST RATED ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Pct | TD | Int | Rating |
| 2012 | Robert Griffin III | 65.6% | 20 | 5 | 102.4 |
| 2012 | Russell Wilson | 64.1% | 26 | 10 | 100.0 |
| 2004 | Ben Roethlisberger | 66.4% | 17 | 11 | 98.1 |
| 2006 | Jay Cutler | 59.1% | 9 | 5 | 88.5 |
| 2008 | Matt Ryan | 61.1% | 16 | 11 | 87.7 |
| 2011 | Cam Newton | 60.0% | 21 | 17 | 84.5 |
| 2013 | Mike Glennon | 59.4% | 19 | 9 | 83.9 |
| 2012 | Nick Foles | 63.1% | 6 | 5 | 82.1 |
| 2011 | Andy Dalton | 58.1% | 20 | 13 | 80.4 |
| 2008 | Joe Flacco | 60.0% | 14 | 12 | 80.3 |
| 2013 | EJ Manuel | 58.8% | 11 | 9 | 77.7 |
| 2012 | Andrew Luck | 54.1% | 23 | 18 | 76.5 |
| 2010 | Sam Bradford | 60.0% | 18 | 15 | 76.5 |
| 2012 | Ryan Tannehill | 58.3% | 12 | 13 | 76.1 |
| 2010 | Colt McCoy | 60.8% | 6 | 9 | 74.5 |
| 2006 | Matt Leinart | 56.8% | 11 | 12 | 74.0 |
| 2003 | Byron Leftwich | 57.2% | 14 | 16 | 73.0 |
| 2012 | Brandon Weeden | 57.4% | 14 | 17 | 72.6 |
| 2002 | Patrick Ramsey | 51.5% | 9 | 8 | 71.8 |
| 2007 | Trent Edwards | 56.1% | 7 | 8 | 70.4 |
| 2005 | Charlie Frye | 59.8% | 4 | 6 | 70.2 |
| 2011 | Christian Ponder | 54.3% | 13 | 13 | 70.1 |
| 2006 | Vince Young | 51.5% | 12 | 13 | 66.7 |
| 2013 | Geno Smith | 55.8% | 12 | 21 | 66.5 |
| 2011 | Blaine Gabbert | 50.8% | 12 | 11 | 65.4 |
| 2009 | Mark Sanchez | 53.8% | 12 | 20 | 63.0 |
| 2001 | Quincy Carter | 51.1% | 5 | 7 | 63.0 |
| 2002 | David Carr | 52.5% | 9 | 15 | 62.8 |
| 2001 | Michael Vick | 44.2% | 2 | 3 | 62.7 |
| 2003 | Kyle Boller | 51.8% | 7 | 9 | 62.4 |
| 2009 | Matthew Stafford | 53.3% | 13 | 20 | 61.0 |
| 2002 | Joey Harrington | 50.1% | 12 | 16 | 59.9 |
| 2009 | Josh Freeman | 54.5% | 10 | 18 | 59.8 |
| 2010 | Jimmy Clausen | 52.5% | 3 | 9 | 58.4 |
| 2004 | Eli Manning | 48.2% | 6 | 9 | 55.4 |
| 2007 | John Beck | 56.1% | 1 | 6 | 50.3 |
| 2005 | Alex Smith | 50.9% | 1 | 11 | 40.8 |
—Ian Allan