Bucs need quality insurance for 43-year-old Tom Brady: Joe Flacco may fit perfectly

Tom Brady will be 43 when the NFL season begins, and he isn't going to be the oldest-ever quarterback to start a game in the NFL when he is under center Week 1 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Steve DeBerg holds that record as he was 44 years and 249 days old when he made a one-game start vs. Jets on Oct. 25, 1998 – but it's unprecedented that the Bucs are counting on him as their franchise QB at that age.

Thus, it would seem to be prudent that Tampa Bay signs an accomplished backup quarterback even as durable as Brady has been over his GOAT career. Brady hasn't missed a game due to injury since suffering a season-ending knee issue in Week 1 of the 2008 campaign. TB12 did miss the first four games of 2016 but that was a Deflategate suspension.

The Bucs had Blaine Gabbert as their backup to Jameis Winston last year, but he's a free agent and, frankly, not very good. Ryan Griffin, 30, is the other QB on the roster, but he has taken the field just once since being claimed off waivers in 2015 and that was two meaningless games in 2019.

There are very few active quarterbacks in the NFL who have won a Super Bowl now that Eli Manning has retired. One of those just entered the free-agent market in Joe Flacco, who was released by Denver. The 35-year-old looks shot as a starter as Flacco was 2-6 as one in 2019, throwing for 1,822 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions in his lone season with the Broncos. Of course, Flacco was Super Bowl MVP of XLVII and has stellar career postseason numbers -- he also beat Brady a couple of times in the playoffs.

Flacco remains a big-armed quarterback who can throw it deep, and that fits right into the offense Bruce Arians likes to run; although Arians may have to make adjustments with Brady not much of a downfield thrower these days. Flacco could still win a game or two if Brady was out and surely would be an upgrade over Gabbert, if brought back, or Griffin. Flacco likely would come cheap and perhaps is chasing one more Super Bowl ring, even if it means backing up a former rival in Brady.

Tampa Bay is +175 on the William Hill NFL futures odds to win the NFC South, trailing only the New Orleans Saints (-115). The Bucs have a win total of 9.