Tag: John Wolford

Should the Bucs pick a QB in the 2024 NFL draft?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might want to invest in a long-term backup plan at quarterback with a late-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have the same exact quarterback room for the 2024 season that they had last year, bringing valuable continuity to the game’s most important position.

But should they start planning for the future?

Baker Mayfield is back on a new three-year contract extension, securing the starting spot for the foreseeable future. Kyle Trask is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, while veteran John Wolford is back on a one-year deal as the third-stringer.

Trask, a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, has barely touched the field, and hasn’t shown the Bucs anything that would warrant a contract extension after the 2024 season. Wolford is a fantastic veteran presence to have in the room, especially considering his knowledge of the offense from his time with Liam Coen when both were with the Los Angeles Rams.

Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

If the Bucs want to replace Trask with a long-term project, they could find a late-round pick to fill that role, and this year’s draft class should give them some intriguing options.

Tennessee’s Joe Milton III would be an ideal candidate, thanks to his impressive physical tools that give him tons of upside. He still needs some refinement, which will require patience at the next level, but investing a Day 3 pick into his lofty potential wouldn’t be the worst idea for the Bucs.

Mayfield will be the starter for at least the next couple of years, but if Tampa Bay wants a long-term backup plan beyond Trask and Wolford, Milton could be a strong fit.

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Bucs agree to terms with QB John Wolford

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back reserve quarterback John Wolford on a new contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back another familiar face to their quarterback room, agreeing to terms with John Wolford on a new contract.

Wolford was the Bucs’ third-string quarterback last year behind Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask, and it looks like he’ll be back to man that same role in 2024. He’s got experience with new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, as they both spent time together with the Los Angeles Rams.

The news was first reported by a pretty solid source, Bucs general manager Jason Licht himself.

After a solid season that ended two rounds into the playoffs, the Bucs are bringing back all three of their quarterbacks from the 2024 campaign now that Wolford is back in the mix.

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Tampa Bay waives DL Pat O’Connor

The move is a corresponding one to make way for Bucs QB John Wolford on the active roster.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making room for their QB3.

Tampa Bay signed quarterback John Wolford to the active roster on Monday to avoid him being poached by the Los Angeles Rams, and that move had to come with a corresponding roster move. The Bucs made that move today, waiving veteran defensive tackle [autotag]Pat O’Connor[/autotag]. Should O’Connor go unclaimed on waivers, he can return to the Bucs practice squad after being signed back.

O’Connor was used frequently as a special teams player in prior years with the team, but he didn’t make the initial 53-man roster. He was elevated to the 53-man roster from the practice squad earlier in the year but has been a healthy scratch in Tampa Bay’s last three games.

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Bucs sign QB John Wolford to active roster

The Los Angeles Rams attempted to sign Wolford Tuesday, but he informed them he’d rather stay in Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers are signing practice squad quarterback John Wolford to their 53-man roster after the Los Angeles Rams attempted to sign him, according to Fox Sports’ Greg Auman.

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported earlier that the Rams attempted to sign Wolford, but his preference was to stay in Tampa per Russini. Wolford was with Los Angeles from 2019 to 2022, starting four games in that span. With injuries impacting quarterback rooms across the league, the Bucs could not afford to lose depth, particularly as Baker Mayfield is dealing with a knee contusion.

The Bucs already have 53 players on the active roster so a corresponding move will be incoming. A likely move will be to cut defensive lineman Pat O’Connor, who was himself activated off the practice squad in late September but has not been active since Week 4.

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Report: Rams tried to sign John Wolford off Buccaneers’ practice squad

The Rams attempted to sign John Wolford from the Buccaneers’ practice squad, but Wolford is electing to remain in Tampa Bay.

Matthew Stafford has been diagnosed with a UCL sprain in his thumb, and there’s a chance he will miss time for the Los Angeles Rams. With the Rams looking to add depth at the quarterback position, they attempted to bring back John Wolford off of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad, only for him to decline the opportunity.

Wolford spent three seasons with the Rams from 2020 through 2022, operating as a backup to both Stafford and Jared Goff. In his three seasons with the Rams, Wolford made four starts, totaling one touchdown pass and five interceptions.

Given Wolford’s experience in Sean McVay’s offense, there was a chance the Rams would express interest in reuniting with him. The only other quarterback on the roster right now — aside from Stafford — is Brett Rypien, so the Rams will certainly look to add someone in the coming days.

Rookie Stetson Bennett remains on the NFI and McVay indicated that it’s unlikely he will return to the Rams before the end of the season. Taking that into account, the Rams will look in free agency and other practice squads to bolster their depth at quarterback.

Even though the Rams intended to bring Wolford back into the building, the undrafted signal-caller out of Wake Forest prefers to remain with the Buccaneers.

Bucs sign former Rams QB John Wolford

The Bucs are adding a veteran backup to the QB room.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will roll with either Kyle Trask or Baker Mayfield, but the team has been looking to add a third QB to the room during the offseason. On Tuesday, the Bucs made the signing.

The team announced that it is signing former Rams QB John Wolford, who has been in Los Angeles since 2019. Wolford was teammates with quarterback Baker Mayfield last season with the Rams.

Wolford’s had a short career as a backup, joining up with Los Angeles in 2019. He’s only had to start four games, where he completed 60% of his passes for 621 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions.

Nevertheless, Wolford is a veteran presence that should add value to the QB room with a young Trask and his former teammate in Mayfield. It’s unknown where the team plans to have Wolford on the depth chart once the starting QB is named before the season begins.

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Buccaneers sign former Rams QB John Wolford

The Buccaneers have added another former Rams QB to join Baker Mayfield, signing John Wolford on Tuesday

The Buccaneers’ quarterback room is gaining another former Ram. The team announced on Tuesday that it has signed John Wolford to join Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay, the second former Rams quarterback to sign with the Bucs this offseason.

Wolford had been with the Rams since 2019 and played seven regular-season games for them, as well as one postseason contest. He went 2-2 in his four starts, though he did get credit for the win over the Raiders last season despite not throwing a pass before Mayfield replaced him.

The Rams opted not to re-sign Wolford this offseason, turning the page by selecting Stetson Bennett in the fourth round and then signing Brett Rypien in free agency. Wolford originally began his career with the Jets in 2018 after going undrafted and has just one touchdown pass with five interceptions in the NFL.

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3 free agents Rams shouldn’t re-sign this offseason

The Rams should let these 3 players walk in free agency this offseason.

The Los Angeles Rams won’t be part of the NFL playoff gauntlet this season, which gives them ample time to look over the roster. Following a tumultuous regular season, the Rams will have 24 total free agents this offseason.

When you go 5-12 after winning a Super Bowl, there are certainly alterations that need to be made to the roster. While there are a handful of impending free agents the Rams should consider bringing back next season, there are a few that are worth letting hit the open market.

Of the 24 players that are set to hit free agency soon, here are three guys the Rams shouldn’t re-sign in the offseason.

No team has started more QBs or O-line combinations this year than the Rams

It’s been a revolving door at two of the most important positions for the Rams this season

When building an NFL team, the first two positions to solidify are quarterback and the offensive line. If you can protect an above-average quarterback, you’ll most likely succeed.

This season has been just the opposite for the Rams. Not only have they been unable to protect their quarterback(s), but they haven’t gotten very good play out of their passers, either.

Need evidence? They have the eighth-fewest passing yards and are tied with the Broncos for the most sacks allowed (51) this season.

The Rams have an excuse, though. They’ve started 12 different offensive line combinations this season, which is the most ever through a team’s first 12 games. In fact, they set the record when they started 11 different combos in the first 11 weeks.

Additionally, no team this season has started more quarterbacks (4) than the Rams: Matthew Stafford, John Wolford, Bryce Perkins and Baker Mayfield. Eight other teams will have started three different quarterbacks by the time Week 16 concludes, but none can match the Rams’ four.

That seems like a pretty big factor in their painfully disappointing 2022 season, one year after starting the same quarterback and only four different offensive line groups in their 17 regular-season games.

There are a lot of reasons the Rams have struggled this season, but the quarterback and offensive line play is the biggest one.

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Sean McVay explains why he started John Wolford over Baker Mayfield vs. Raiders

Sean McVay’s explanation for starting John Wolford, only to pull him after three plays, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense

There were a lot of odd things that happened over the course of the Rams’ 17-16 win over the Raiders on Thursday night, but perhaps the most puzzling decision was Sean McVay opting to start John Wolford and only let him play three snaps – all of which were handoffs to either Cam Akers or Tutu Atwell.

When Baker Mayfield took over and Wolford never took the field again, it left a lot of fans confused. What was the point of starting Wolford?

McVay tried to explain the decision but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“He felt good,” McVay said of Wolford after the game Thursday. “They came out in a personnel grouping that we felt like might’ve been to kind of just dare us to try to be able to throw it. We wanted to get Baker in, whether it was the second or the third series. Felt good about it. I put us in a really bad spot. That third-down play call was terrible, where Maxx Crosby ends up tackling Tutu for a loss. It wasn’t anything that John didn’t do. We wanted to be able to get Baker an opportunity to see if he could give us a spark, certainly he did that, being able to hit Van on his first throw.”

So Wolford felt good enough to start, and after seeing the defense dare the Rams to throw it, McVay had Wolford hand it off three times? That doesn’t seem to check out.

On Friday, McVay said Wolford was limited and pushing through a neck injury to be ready for the game. He specified that because of Wolford’s health, it prevented the Rams from running some of the plays they wanted to.

“Number one, John was doing everything he could to be ready for that game,” he said. “He was limited, but he was going to push through for the team. I think that says a lot about him. It wasn’t anything that he didn’t do, it was something that we just felt like with some of the things in the health of John, Baker would give us an opportunity to run a couple different things that maybe we wouldn’t have been able to present to them defensively otherwise just because of John’s health.”

We don’t have to wonder who will start at quarterback moving forward because McVay said it’ll be Mayfield, but the way he handled the position this week was somewhat confusing.

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