NFL Betting: Garoppolo, Trask tipped to replace Brady at Bucs

Tom Brady may have shaken the world for the last time today, announcing his retirement from professional football after 22 seasons. After spending his first year in the NFL as a backup to Drew Bledsoe at the New England Patriots, Brady never finished with a losing record in all 21 campaigns as a starter. Brady hoisted the Lombardi Trophy a total of seven times during his career and made it to the Super Bowl in 10 of his 21 seasons as a first-stringer. This immaculate feat is something that we may never see again.

The duo of Brady and Bill Belichick is one of a kind and netted the Patriots six Super Bowls. Most coach-quarterback duos don’t last long, but the stars aligned in New England. Belichick is now known as the greatest coach to ever do the job and Brady is the best quarterback to play.

With Brady retiring, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to have to find his replacement this offseason. They won the Super Bowl just two seasons ago but have some decisions to make very soon. The Buccaneers look to be losing some major firepower, as they have 25 free agents – including Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, OJ Howard, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh, Ryan Jensen, Leonard Fournette, and Ronald Jones – all hitting the open market this offseason.

It looks pretty unlikely that the Buccaneers will be able to retain the majority of these guys, as they look to be at the top of the free agent class at their respective positions. The once deadly Buccaneers look to be in for a rebuild in the near future.

Still, the biggest question is: Who will replace Brady at Tampa Bay? The NFL betting markets for the Buccaneers’ new quarterback make for interesting reading.

Buccaneers new quarterback betting odds

Jimmy Garoppolo

+600 at Bovada

It’d almost be comical for Jimmy Garoppolo to inherit the team that Brady left but here he is. In 2018, Garoppolo signed a five year $137.5 million contract with the 49ers after they traded a second round pick to the Patriots in exchange for the Patriots’ backup. It was reported at the time that Garoppolo, who looked great in limited action, would be the heir to Brady after his retirement. This didn’t sit well with Brady, so the Patriots decided to double down on their 40-year-old quarterback at the time and ship Garoppolo to the 49ers.

Garoppolo is statistically an average quarterback but, for whatever reason, seems to be able to rally a team and win football games. This past weekend, the 49ers took the field in Los Angeles with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. No one pinned the Niners to be in that position this year, especially led by Garoppolo. They drafted his replacement with the third overall pick in last year’s draft, but Kyle Shanahan was adamant that, even through injuries, Garoppolo was the 49ers’ starting quarterback.

Even though Garoppolo is limited, he has shown that with the right coach he can be a winning quarterback.

Kyle Trask

+600 at Bovada

Kyle Trask was a second-round pick out of Florida in last year’s NFL draft. Obviously, Trask took a back seat to Brady, but he also was buried under Blaine Gabbert on Tampa Bay’s depth chart. The 64th overall pick was a healthy scratch every week this season, the Buccaneers obviously valued experience over their second round draft pick less than a season ago.

Trask wasn’t terrible at Florida; he passed for a total of 7,386 yards and threw for 69 touchdowns over his three-year career with the Gators. Trask played very sparingly in his sophomore year, appearing in just three games. In his junior year, he played 12 games and looked to be getting better. In his last year with the Gators, he passed for over half of his career passing total with 4,283 yards and threw for 43 touchdowns. This steady growth warranted the Buccaneers to select him in the second round. The fact that he is tied for the best odds to be Tampa’s starting quarterback next season is noteworthy.

Who else might replace Brady at the Bucs?

Other options to replace Brady in Tampa Bay include the man who beat Brady in Super Bowl 52, Nick Foles (+850), Aaron Rodgers (+950), Ryan Tannehill (+1000), and Tyrod Taylor (+1000).

The top online sportsbooks seem to be confused about what Tampa Bay’s plans are this upcoming season. Trask, Foles, Tannehill, and Taylor make it seem like the Buccaneers will accept that it’s time to turn the roster over, but Garoppolo and Rodgers make it seem like they might have a plan after all.

The Buccaneers’ plans at quarterback next season will be directly affected by their draft, free agency, and coaching. It is very possible that Bruce Arians, who has already retired once, might not be up for another rebuild. Arians has been very vocal about his health issues, which were the reason he stepped away from the game in the first place.

The Buccaneers, who stood on top of the world just a season ago, now will be forced to make some tough decisions this offseason.