Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We’ve embarked on a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. Next up: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After reaching the playoffs every year from 2011-15, the Cincinnati Bengals fell short of the postseason for the second year in a row. Now they await NFL Free Agency in 2018, which could be key for them getting back in the mix.

Entering the offseason, we started with a series that highlighted players from playoff teams that the Bengals could look at in free agency. Now, the focus has turned to the other teams that weren’t in the postseason.

We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Ravens, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets. We now begin touching on the playoff watchers from the NFC with the lone NFC South team to not join the postseason party: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB

Every season provides us with important insights on what equals success or defeat for teams. At least one of those insights from 2017 can be seen through the scope of the quarterback position.

While there still is no single position more important on a football team than the man behind center, putting all of your eggs in just one player’s basket is an easy way to have your season lost. Someone like Aaron Rodgers may make a team a contender by himself, but expecting that player to do everything by themselves leaves your team with a minuscule margin for error — and things can go awry in a hurry.

Compare the way Green Bay’s season went compared to the current Super Bowl champions. Rodgers and Carson Wentz were each, when healthy, in the top tier of quarterbacks for the 2017 season. Both of course went down with eventual injuries, though the results for their teams were drastically different: while Philadelphia won the Super Bowl, Green Bay didn’t even make the playoffs.

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The biggest difference was overall roster construction (look at Philadelphia’s defense compared to Green Bay’s), and an important segment of that was the backup quarterback position. Where Nick Foles eventually blossomed when called upon to step in for Wentz, Brett Hundley faltered spectacularly as Green Bay cratered sans Rodgers.

What those results showed was just how much difference a quality backup quarterback can make for a team. Give Philadelphia a worse showing from Foles in the playoffs, that team isn’t winning a game — much less winning the Super Bowl. Give Green Bay more competence from Hundley’s spot, and the Packers may have been in much better position than pinning their entire fleeting hopes on Rodgers rushing back from a broken collarbone.

Backup quarterback has now become a clear need for Cincinnati. They had a pretty good setup for years with A.J. McCarron backing up Andy Dalton, but that is no longer applicable. McCarron was granted unrestricted free agency for this offseason; because of that, he’s going to get paid on the open market, likely to be given a chance to be someone’s starter. With McCarron gone, Dalton needs a new backup, and Philadelphia showed that having a veteran in that role can save a team’s season.

That’s why Cincinnati should target Fitzpatrick. He is nobody’s desired starter, but he’s often showed that he can play capably in multi-game stretches throughout his career — including last season with the Bucs. He played 30+ snaps in five different games for Tampa Bay last season, and the team went 2-3 in those contests (in a 5-11 season).

A player often known for making too many turnovers put up his third season with better than a 2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, showing that some of his worst decision-making issues can be mitigated enough to compete (and win) if properly planned around. He has a history here as well (he was the backup to Carson Palmer in 2008), so it isn’t as if the team wouldn’t have some insight on his strengths and weaknesses, either.

It may not seem like a big deal. Dalton has only been significantly hurt once in his career; spending money on a player who likely won’t see the field which could go to guys who actually will take snaps wouldn’t look great.

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But competent play at this position means so much more than at any other, and all it takes is one bit of bad timing or unfortunate fall to take a quarterback out of the lineup. Skimping on a backup quarterback has sunken numerous seasons throughout league history. Cincinnati, a team with plenty of cap space and a desire to return to the playoffs, would be remiss if they played with fire here.

My advice: Don’t overthink it. Hope Dalton stays healthy, but make sure you have a trusted veteran in Fitzpatrick ready to step in if needed.

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