The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday signed 10-year NFL veteran Teddy Bridgewater to a one-year contract following a visit with the team that morning.

As it turns out, Bridgewater-to-the-Buccaneers was several years in the making. Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht spoke to reporters on Tuesday afternoon and revealed that the organization had its sights set on the 2015 Pro Bowl selection multiple times prior to Tuesday's signing, including during the team's 2020 free agent courtship of seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.

"We had him in here in 2014 before the draft," Licht said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. "There might have been a situation where we would have taken him if he fell a little further. And a few years ago, he was behind what was door number two... we ended up with Tom Brady but now we have Teddy on the roster ..."

Bridgewater went on to be selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. He spent the first three years of his career with the Vikings, then bounced between five different teams over the course of the following seven seasons, making 37 starts along the way.

The Buccaneers in 2020 eventually landed Tom Brady, who led the franchise to its second Super Bowl victory in his first season in Tampa Bay. Licht and company would undoubtedly take the way things played out, but the franchise could use Bridgewater this time around.

Starter and two-time Pro Bowl selection Baker Mayfield is the only quarterback on Tampa Bay's roster with starting experience. Plus, with second-year pro Michael Pratt week-to-week with back soreness, Bridgewater gives the Buccaneers another healthy backup option behind Mayfield.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Buccaneers GM Reveals Team's New Quarterback Was 2020 Plan B to Tom Brady.

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