The post-Tom Brady era has finally arrived for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And, like many imagined, there are a ton of questions when it comes to the team's realistic chances at competing in the NFL.

For starters, Brady is officially out of the picture. The team also has 26 free agents to re-sign and several of them were starters from last year or the last several years.

The bill from the last three seasons has officially come due, as well, and it's left the Buccaneers with over $55 million in debt that has to be paid off just so the team can get out of the red.

To add a third layer: The Buccaneers don't have any premium draft picks, either. Meaning, it's going to be a lot harder to add an immediate impact player in April.

Yikes. That's a big yikes, actually.

With all things considered, especially the current state of the quarterback position that features Kyle Trask as the lone signal-caller, it's easy to see why the Buccaneers can be viewed as a team that's rebuilding in 2023.

But if you ask the Buccaneers, that's not in the cards. They don't want to rebuild.

“You never want to rebuild – you’re always reloading, no matter if you have new guys or not,” head coach Todd Bowles said back in January. “You want guys to come in and play and compete for you to win the division.”

Well, the quickest way to avoid a rebuild is to find a solid answer at quarterback. The aren't very many options on the market and outside of Aaron Rodgers (who has a very expensive contract, mind you), there aren't a lot of franchise-changing options.

And the Buccaneers probably couldn't afford them if they were.

Regardless, the latest news surrounding the hiring of Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales opens the door for a potential solution at QB.

And obviously, it's the one-and-only Geno Smith.

Smith had the best year of his career under the Buccaneers' new offensive coordinator and current Seahawks offensive Shane Waldron. Canales will certainly bring a lot of Waldron's concepts and structure, considering he worked in his offense the last two seasons.

There's plenty of reason to think Canales wants to try and bring Smith in, as well. That's certainly possible, too, considering the fact Smith is a free agent.

Based of a 1,000-foot view, it's very unlikely the Seahawks bring Smith back. He's going to be expensive and the 'Hawks have not one, but two first round picks. One is what would've been the Denver Broncos' No. 5 overall pick if Russell Wilson stayed in Seattle.

Meaning, the Seahawks are in prime shape to trade up and land one of the top quarterbacks in the draft.

Drafting a top-5 quarterback in a class that has good prospects and building a team around his rookie contract makes so much more sense and it's a way better process than paying a 32-year-old journeyman $30-$40 million year and hoping the best and most previous year of his career isn't his last.

Especially for a team like the Seahawks, who has over $31 million in cap room. A cheap QB contract allows them to build an absolute machine, if they want.

Plus, I'm sure the franchise remembers very well what happened the last time they built their team around a rookie QB contract.

Yes, the Buccaneers are going to have to figure out how to work Smith's contract to where they can afford it, but they can easily shape something up to where he counts as a $12-$15 million cap hit in Year 1, which is very affordable considering today's QB market.

There are certainly questions with Smith, but he immediately becomes the best QB on the Buccaneers roster and he gives them a shot to stay competitive in a down NFC South.

Acquiring Smith goes a long way toward the Buccaneers' reluctance to enter a rebuild. And if they status-quo, then it signals they are ready for the many pains 2023 is set to provide.

Either way, it'll be very interesting to see where things go from here.

Featured image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports