From the outside looking in, it appears as if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are happy with what they have in their quarterback room in case disaster strikes with starter Baker Mayfield.
Tampa Bay’s backup the last three seasons, Kyle Trask, is back in that same role.
But the Buccaneers’ confidence in Trask isn’t shared by everybody: Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton ranked Trask 30th out of all 32 backups, ahead of only Clayton Tune of the Arizona Cardinals and Stetson Bennett of the Los Angeles Rams.
“Most of the quarterbacks in the lowest tier have had rough career starts with poor performances,” Moton wrote in his August 29 story, pointing out that Trask has “minimal regular season experience.”
Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Justin Fields took the No. 1 spot in the rankings.
Buccaneers Spent Early-Round Pick on Trask
Trask has played in only three games with zero starts, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions on 3-of-10 passing for 33 yards. He’s now in the final year of the 4-year, $5.8 million rookie contract he signed in 2021.
Tampa Bay selected him in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft and he backed up Tom Brady for two seasons, then Mayfield in 2023. He was named All-SEC for Florida in 2020 after he threw for career highs of 4,328 yards, 43 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles gave Trask the slight edge over a John Wolford by giving Trask the start in all three of the Bucs’ preseason games. Trask responded by going 41-of-63 passing for 393 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in three preseason games.
The team cut Wolford and signed Michael Pratt to the practice squad.
Kyle Trask to Tanner Knue on 4th and goal for the @Buccaneers TD!
Would Buccaneers Hand Offense Over to Kyle Trask?
Mayfield has been surprisingly durable during his six seasons in the NFL and is prone to play through injuries.
He started all 17 games for Tampa Bay in 2023 and only missed three games due to injury during four seasons with the Cleveland Browns after they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Still, a more secure backup option might be former NFL Comeback Player of the Year Ryan Tannehill, who is an unrestricted free agent.
In 2019, Tannehill took over as the starter for Marcus Mariota for the final 10 games of the season and guided the Titans to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Tannehill was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year and made his only Pro Bowl, but the real reward came in the offseason with a 4-year, $118 million contract.
“Former Los Angeles Rams and Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator Liam Coen is the new OC, replacing the Carolina-bound Dave Canales,” The Draft Network’s Justin Melo wrote on May 13. “Tannehill is a significantly better fit to operate Coen’s offense than current backup Kyle Trask. Coen runs a variation of the West Coast Offense that Tannehill played in under Matt LaFleur, Arthur Smith and Todd Downing in Tennessee. Trask’s time in Tampa is running out.”
It’s not clear if the Buccaneers would hand the keys to the offense over to Trask if Mayfield went down. The last time the franchise had the opportunity for Trask to step into a starting role, they moved quickly to sign Mayfield to a 1-year, $4 million contract before the 2023 season and he responded with the best season of his career.
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Buccaneers Veteran Named 1 of NFL’s Worst Backup QBs