Jimmy Garoppolo: 5 teams that may balk at trading for 49ers QB

No. 4: Buccaneers may ride with Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask over Jimmy Garoppolo

In the wake of quarterback Tom Brady’s retirement, there was plenty of speculation the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could emerge as legitimate trade partners with the Niners for Jimmy Garoppolo.

After all, the Bucs roster is still equipped to compete for a Super Bowl now, especially amid an NFC South that is nothing short of terrible.

Granted, Tampa Bay isn’t exactly swimming in cap space despite Brady’s retirement, but there are signs it wants to stick with in-house options instead of trying to lure in a 30-year-old oft-injured veteran who might not be the perfect fit for head coach Bruce Arians’ offense.

It’s possible the Buccaneers look to deploy their second-round pick from last year’s draft, quarterback Kyle Trask, but another plausible option is for them to roll with Brady’s primary backup the last two years, Blaine Gabbert.

This might sound strange for San Francisco fans, who watched Gabbert struggle with the 49ers in 2015 and 2016, but Arians doesn’t think that would be the case, telling reporters the following:

"I could get extremely excited about having another young quarterback and going to war with one. I’ll be honest with you, I’d be excited to take Blaine Gabbert and go to war, because I love Blaine Gabbert. I think he’s the most underrated player in the NFL."

It might sound silly, yes. But one could just as easily make the argument Garoppolo would be only a modestly better bridge option to a long-term quarterback than Gabbert, and perhaps the Bucs don’t want to part ways with any draft capital via a trade.