The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have reportedly settled on their backup quarterback.<\/p>\n
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport<\/a> reported Sunday that Jalon Daniels will back up Baker Mayfield\u2014who has an uncertain<\/a> long-term future with the team because of his own contract situation\u2014to start the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n Daniels joined the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent with a signing bonus of $25,000, but Rapoport noted he “impressed throughout camp” and “earned” the role.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay signed<\/a> Jake Browning this offseason after he started 10 games for the Cincinnati Bengals the past three seasons when Joe Burrow was injured. Browning was presumably going to be Mayfield’s backup just like he was for Burrow in Cincinnati but was unable to beat out Daniels for the job.<\/p>\n However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter<\/a> reported Browning was released Sunday with Daniels as the backup moving forward.<\/p>\n While Daniels dealt with injuries early in his collegiate career with Kansas even amid a breakout 2022 campaign, he appeared in 12 games in each of the last two seasons for the Jayhawks.<\/p>\n He posted 14 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions in 2024 but showed significant improvement in 2025 while completing 62.1 percent of his passes for 2,531 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 404 yards and four scores on the ground.<\/p>\n