Buccaneers tender QB Ryan Griffin, want to extend his contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have tendered backup quarterback Ryan Griffin at the low tender level, and are interested in extending his contract, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN. The low tender means other teams can offer him a deal, which the Bucs can then match to keep him in Tampa.

Griffin has spent the past two years as the Bucs’ third quarterback, in anticipation of Mike Glennon’s constantly imminent but also delayed departure. Now that Glennon is reportedly signing with the Chicago Bears, the time has come for Griffin to be the true backup to Jameis Winston.

The Bucs groomed Griffin for two seasons with this specific job in mind, so it seems likely they’re pretty happy with his development. While they would have preferred to keep Glennon, they weren’t about to hand him $14.5 million per year to hold a clipboard behind Winston — so Griffin is a pretty good backup plan.

Of course, we have no clue how well Griffin will do once he gets into a game. He’s a big, strong, big-armed, pocket quarterback, so he at least has the tools to do reasonably well when called upon. But if Winston suffers an injury or is otherwise unavailable for an extended amount of time, can the Bucs really trust a former undrafted free agent who has yet to throw a single regular season pass?