The Cincinnati Bengals thought they had a solid backup in Jake Browning and it made sense as to why. Browning stepped in admirably when Joe Burrow missed the back half of the 2023 season due to injury, keeping the Bengals in the playoff hunt. While the Bengals ultimately missed out on the postseason, it felt as though Cincinnati had a backup quarterback worth boasting about.
Unfortunately, the truth came out during the 2025 season when Browning once again was tasked with filling in for an injured Burrow. Things didn't go so well for Browning this time around, as he completed 64.8% of his passes and threw six touchdowns to eight interceptions. He also failed to win a game in any of his three starts. Yeah, it was rough.
The Bengals eventually rescued themselves from the Browning experiment and traded for new fan favorite Joe Flacco ahead of the deadline. That went much better for them and it was clear that Browning's time in Cincinnati was likely coming to an end.
So, yeah, it wasn't a surprise to see Browning depart in free agency this offseason. He ended up inking a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, giving Baker Mayfield one of the more experienced backups he's had during his time in Tampa.
The problem is that Browning might not be a shoo-in to make the 53-man roster with his new team. According to Josh Crysler of The Pewter Plank, Browning has some stealthy competition in the form of Jalon Daniels. For those who don't know that name, Daniels was an undrafted quarterback out of the University of Kansas who landed with the Buccaneers and is clearly impressing the fans down in Florida.
"If Daniels can continue to build momentum when the pads come on, he could shake up the depth chart and force some difficult decisions," Crysler wrote. "While Browning is the early leader in the clubhouse due to his experience with 10 career starts, the other quarterbacks will be given the opportunity to compete."
Jake Browning already under pressure from surprising rookie
This isn't great news for Browning, but when looking at the quarterback depth chart in Tampa Bay, there's no doubt that Browning gives the Buccaneers the best possible option behind Mayfield. Daniels might be impressive but he has yet to take an NFL snap and that kind of experience is valuable. Browning has it while Daniels does not and that's probably going to help him out when push comes to shove.
Then again, the NFL is a crazy business. If Browning absolutely flops during the preseason and Daniels looks as good as he's being hyped up to be, perhaps the former Bengals backup could be searching for another team once again.
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