Buccaneers QB Future in Focus | NFL News

0:00It's September 7th. This is NFL News Today, AI-powered stories from around the league. I'm Cory with the story. So the Buccaneers might be looking ahead to the 2027 NFL draft already, and it's all about the quarterback spot. An early mock draft has them picking Miami's Daryen Mensa at number 14 overall. This is interesting because Baker Mayfield is in the last year of his deal, and they haven't agreed on an extension. This doesn't mean they're definitely moving on from Baker, but it does open up possibilities for next year. How Baker and the team perform this season will really shape whether they even need to think about drafting a quarterback in 2027. Daryen Mensa is making some noise though. Last season at Duke, he threw for almost 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns. Then he transferred to Miami and had a massive debut, completing 27 of 30 passes for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns against. Stanford, his performance was top notch, with high grades for offense and passing, and

1:01he averaged over 13 yards per attempt. He even had three big time throws, with no turnovers and a perfect passurating. This isn't the first time Mensa has been linked to Tampa Bay in mock drafts. The names and picks will definitely shift between now and April, but the consistent theme is that Mayfield's contract situation makes quarterback A. mental position to watch for the bucks in the 2027 draft. Mensa has a whole season to prove himself at Miami, and Baker has a whole season to make this whole discussion unnecessary in Tampa Bay.