One thing we are discovering before the NFL season even starts is that when it comes to depth, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just don’t have much of it.
The latest example came when the Buccaneers released projected third string quarterback Michael Pratt on August 12, leaving them with a Top 10 starter in Baker Mayfield … followed by Kyle Trask and Teddy Bridgewater.
It’s safe to say the Buccaneers might have the worst backup quarterback situation of any NFC contender.
Bucs have waived-injured QB Michael Pratt, who hadn’t practiced this year due to a lower back injury,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote on his official X account. “He’d spent last year on the practice squad. Kicker Ryan Coe was also waived … With (Pratt) getting waived-injured, Bucs will have to decide whether to reach an injury settlement, or keep him on injured reserve (presuming he clears waivers) for the entire season. If the latter, he signed a ‘split’ contract paying him a bit over half of his $960,000 base salary while on IR, would stay under contract for 2026.”
Packers Spent Seventh Round Pick on Pratt
Pratt was a seventh round pick (No. 245 overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL draft but was released at the end of training camp and picked up by the Buccaneers, who signed him to a reserve/future contract on January 14.
The Buccaneers gave Pratt a $250,000 signing bonus this spring — a sign they believed he could eventually find a long-term spot on the roster.
“Pratt, we think he’s very talented,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said. “When we got him, he didn’t really have a chance to get the system down because he was playing scout team all the time. You can’t really get those plays in … We really want to get a chance to see what Pratt can do this spring because it’s not fair to evaluate him just playing the scout team.”
Pratt, 6-foot-2 and 217 pounds, was a 2-time All-AAC pick at Tulane in 2022 and 2023, when he went 21-3 as the starter. He earned AAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 but had his best statistical season in 2022 with 3,009 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 5 interceptions to go with 478 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Michael Pratt able to outduel Caleb Williams for the win
What Moves Buccaneers Might Make at Backup QB
Barring a trade, the Buccaneers seem set with what they have at backup quarterback in 2025 — and it’s not great Bridgewater already seems like a better option than Trask.
The really unfortunate thing about this is the Buccaneers could have easily picked up another backup quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft and if we want to get into the minutiae of it, they should have done it in the fourth round.
That’s where the Buccaneers took Central Arkansas edge rusher David Walker with the 121st overall pick — a spot where they could have easily taken Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who went to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round with the 144th overall pick.
Sanders seems to be playing his way into a chance to be the Browns starter this season. Walker suffered a season ending ACL injury during the first week of training camp.
Buccaneers Part Ways With Former 3,000-Yard, 27-TD QB