The Bucs’ backup quarterback picture changed fast, and the latest move says plenty about what they value behind Baker Mayfield.
After guaranteeing $400k of Jake Browning’s salary, Tampa Bay moved on from him on cutdown day last week. General manager Jason Licht explained the decision while also making it clear why undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels ended up taking the QB2 job.
“Well, that’s an incredible accomplishment for an undrafted rookie to get that position,” Licht said. “I can’t think in the last decade [of] another time it’s happened.
But the number one thing is he earned it. It wasn’t just given to him.
You don’t get that honor by just being lucky or having somebody pull strings for you. He earned it.
Like I said, he earned the trust of his teammates, his coaches. You guys have seen him out here practice during camp, [he] did some really great things in the game.
“You can go back and forth with the experience argument, but we’d rather have a very talented, prepared, inexperienced quarterback than going with experience just for the sake of saying the guy is experienced. So, like all rookie quarterbacks, whether you’re the number one overall pick or undrafted, there’s going to be a learning curve, there’s going to be ups and downs, but we feel good about where he’s at, his trajectory, and we’re excited.”
That stance didn’t mean the Bucs were done looking for help. After Browning declined to sign with the practice squad, Tampa Bay went and got a quarterback who already knows Zac Robinson’s offense: Easton Stick.
Stick spent 2025 on the Falcons’ practice squad and arrives with familiarity in Robinson’s system, plus a body of work that includes 200 regular season dropbacks and seven preseason stretches totaling another 416 dropbacks. In other words, he gives the Bucs the kind of experience they expected when they first signed Browning.
On tape, Stick brings some real positives. He processes the game well, understands where to go with the ball, and generally makes sound decisions.
That helps him keep Robinson’s offense on schedule. Early in the season, he could be the steadier option while Daniels keeps developing in the background.
He’s comfortable with the easy and intermediate throws, and he shows good touch when he works the deep areas outside the hashes.
That touch gives him value at multiple levels and forces defenses to respect more than just the short game. Stick also tested well as an athlete, which fits cleanly into Robinson’s bootleg-heavy approach.
The limitations are just as clear. His arm strength is not a strength, and he has to really load up to drive the ball downfield. The velocity simply isn’t there the way it is for Daniels, which can invite safeties into the play when Stick is trying to attack those hole shots outside the numbers.
That may also help explain why he doesn’t love working the middle of the field. Stick tends to stay away from the intermediate area and from throws inside the hashes, leaning instead toward checkdowns or touchdown throws.
Quick game concepts are more his speed, especially hitches and flats. In fact, his favorite route combo appears to be stick - the condensed two-man concept with one receiver on a hitch and another on a flat underneath.
His deep ball placement is strong when he puts air under it, but that precision doesn’t always carry over to quicker in-breakers. On digs and slants, the ball often comes late and behind the target.
There’s also a difference between testing speed and functional movement when the play breaks down. Stick can move, but that athleticism doesn’t always translate when he has to throw on the run. He often wants to stop and reset his base unless he’s on a designed rollout and can get the ball out quickly to a short flat.
So is he an upgrade over Daniels for the early part of the season? That’s not a simple yes.
Daniels showed enough in the preseason to force his way onto the roster, and Browning still looked like the better short-term bet as QB2 because he could handle the system. Stick, though, has an even lower ceiling.
He doesn’t have Daniels’ arm strength, his athleticism is more straight-line than fluid, and his reluctance to attack the middle of the field narrows the offense.
Even so, he still has value. As a practice squad quarterback, Stick can give Baker Mayfield another voice in the room and serve as an additional mentor for Daniels. For less than $500,000, that’s a worthwhile move.
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