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Midweek Analysis: Bucs Could Be Winner In Browns’ QB Derby

Posted Nov 14, 2007 by Roy Cummings

Updated Nov 14, 2007 at 10:25 PM

TAMPA – The Cleveland Browns may have found their quarterback of the future. His name, surprisingly, is not Brady Quinn. It’s Derek Anderson.

Why should Bucs fans care about the Browns quarterback situation? Because the quarterback who isn’t crowned Quarterback of the Future in Cleveland could become the Quarterback of the Future in Tampa Bay.

OK, it’s a long shot, one that almost certainly would involve a trade. And that trade almost certainly would involve the Bucs giving up a No. 1 draft pick. Still, there’s reason to believe it could happen. Here’s why:

For starters, the Bucs still don’t have a quarterback of the future. They thought Chris Simms would be that quarterback but Simms’ future is uncertain so the Bucs can’t count on him.

Bruce Gradkowski is an option, but anyone who looked objectively at Gradkowski’s play last year has to agree with the host of scouts who say he is probably best suited to fill the role of a backup.

Luke McCown is an option as well, but despite being in coach Jon Gruden’s system longer than Gradkowski and starter Jeff Garcia combined, he still ranks third on the depth chart.

It’s reasonable to conclude, then, that the Bucs quarterback of the future is not currently on their roster. That means they’ll probably have to get him from someone else’s roster.

That roster could, of course, be a college roster. But it’s always dicey to spend a high draft pick on a quarterback. Besides, Gruden’s track record for developing young quarterbacks is not a glowing one.

Assuming Gruden keeps his job, and I’m assuming he will, the Bucs would probably be best served by finding a young quarterback either in free agency or through a trade. That’s where the Browns come in.

Anderson, who has caught many by surprise this season and currently ranks 11th in the league in passer rating, is slated to become a restricted free agent when the current season ends.

The Browns will eventually do one of three things with him. They will either sign him to a long-term contract, tender him a one-year contract that restricts his movement on the free-agent market or trade him.

All but the first would allow the Bucs to make a play on him. And it’s important to remember that the Bucs have not been shy in recent years about trading for players or bidding on restricted free agents.

They traded for McCown, after all, sending a fourth-round draft pick to the Browns for his services during the 2005 draft. And two years ago they signed restricted free agent Torrin Tucker to fill a need at tackle.

If they deem Anderson a necessity the Bucs may not hesitate to give the Browns the first-round draft pick they will likely require as compensation should they lose him in free agency.

They may also decide to give the Browns whatever it is they want in a trade for Anderson, which could be Simms, Gradkowski or a first-round pick, the latter of which is something the Browns don’t have.

And if the Browns decide to sign Anderson to a long-term deal, the Bucs could still make a play on Quinn. That, in fact, may even be their prerogative. Gruden, after all, did speak glowingly of Quinn before the draft last year.

Either way, the situation in Cleveland bears watching. The Browns are in an enviable position. They have what they believe are two very good young quarterbacks. Their intention is to keep just one long term.

Somewhere between the end of this season and the start of the 2009 season, the one in which the Bucs will likely be turning to a new quarterback, the Browns will be looking to unload the one they don’t deem their QB of the future.

You can bet the Bucs will be listening.

MVP SNUB: With the season more than half over, top candidates are starting to emerge for the league’s major individual awards. Surprisingly, I’m not hearing Jeff Garcia’s name mentioned in the debate for MVP.

I hear Tom Brady’s name, Peyton Manning’s name, even Randy Moss’s name. I don’t hear Garcia’s name. Hard to believe, especially when you consider what Garcia has done for the Bucs.

Without Garcia, the Bucs do not have five wins, they do not stand alone atop the NFC South division and they are not contenders for the playoffs. Without Garcia, the Bucs are an also-ran, a non factor.

I’m not saying Garcia deserves to win the award. Not at this point. Brett Favre probably gets the nod there. But at the very least Garcia deserves to be mentioned in the conversation.

GRIESING THE SKIDS: While we’re on the subject of quarterbacks, I can’t believe anyone here in Tampa is surprised by what’s happening with the quarterbacks in Chicago.

I’ve always likened Brian Griese to a goalie in hockey who gives up one bad goal a game. By that I mean he’s just good enough to get you beat. Finally it seems Bears coach Lovie Smith has realized the same thing.

Fed up with Griese’s penchant for throwing interceptions (he was averaging two per start prior to Sunday), Smith was thinking of pulling Griese even before he suffered a shoulder injury during the Bears 17-6 victory over the Raiders.

Smith is reportedly leaning toward starting Rex Grossman this week, which means he may go back to Griese only if he absolutely has to. Surprised? I didn’t think so.

BENNETT’S BATTLE: A lot of fans are clamoring to see more of RB Michael Bennett, and for good reason. With the few touches he’s had since coming to the Bucs in a trade form Kansas City, Bennett has shown the ability to be a big-time playmaker.

With Michael Pittman back, however, there’s a good chance we’ll see less and less of Bennett. It’s not that Bennett isn’t as good as Pittman. He just doesn’t know the offense all that well.

Gruden’s scheme has thrown a lot of players in the past and it’s thrown Bennett, too. Bennett says he’s picking it up slowly, but he’s probably not picking it up as fast as he needs to if he hopes to be a major cog in the offense.

FINAL THOUGHT: Kudos to Peter King of SI and HBO for questioning the ridiculous (that’s my word) work habits of NFL coaches and suggesting the league actually force them to go home each night at a decent hour.

I have long thought football coaches who put in 14-, 16- and 18-hour days and sleep in their offices do so largely because their work ethic is the only thing they can truly control.

They certainly can’t control injuries, weather or the way the ball bounces so they work long hours so that no one can ever tell them their team’s failures were the result of their staffs not working hard enough.

I mean, at some point the law of diminishing returns must take over and fatigue prohibits them from accomplishing what it is they set out to accomplish in the first place.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to see Tony Dungy win the Super Bowl last year. Dungy believes in working hard but working smart and getting home to his family at a decent hour.

If at all possible he wants to eat breakfast with his family in the morning and eat dinner with them at night. I thought that if Dungy could win doing things his way, other coaches in the league would follow suit.

It’s also one of the reasons I wanted to see Steve Spurrier succeed as a coach in this league. Spurrier is a lot like Dungy. He makes sure he has a life away from the game and he lives it to the fullest.

Spurrier even took a shot at a rival coach once, saying he didn’t see in the standings where all of the late hours that coach had devoted to game-planning had done his team a lot of good.

It was a great point. I wish the league had listened. Maybe it will listen to King. My guess is there are a lot of coach’s wives and sons and daughters out hoping the same thing.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).