Getty Tom Brady made his true feelings known.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted former Florida signal-caller Kyle Trask, but there is no quarterback controversy as long as Tom Brady is in town. Brady has yet to react publicly to the Buccaneers’ selection, but Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht revealed they had prepared their quarterback for this scenario. Licht reiterated Brady will be the team’s quarterback for as long as he wants but was “totally fine” with the franchise selecting a player at the same position.
“Oh, I think it will go very smooth,” Licht said in his day two post-draft press conference. “Tom’s the ultimate team guy, and I don’t think Tom is worried about anybody taking his job. We had some casual conversations throughout the last few weeks that a scenario might come up where we could take a quarterback. I don’t have many conversations with Tom about the draft, but he was totally fine. He wants what’s best for the team. So, Tom’s going to play as long as Tom wants to play. He’s earned that right.”
Trask threw for 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 68.9% of his passes in 12 games last season. Bucs fans should get a chance to watch Trask in action during the preseason after its brief hiatus in 2020.
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Bruce Arians Compared Kyle Trask to Former Bucs QB Brad Johnson
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians mentioned a familiar name for Tampa Bay fans when projecting Trask’s game in the NFL. Arians sees a lot of similarities between Trask and former Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson.
“Everything about [Trask] — he’s accurate, he’s smart, he’s tough, he knows how to move inside the pocket,” Arians noted, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “We don’t draft guys to run, we draft them to throw. And he’s accurate as hell.”
Trask on Being Drafted by Bucs:’I Was Just Super Excited When I Saw That Tampa, Florida, Number Call Me’
Trask was one of the top quarterbacks in college football last season, and the Buccaneers considered selecting the former Gator with their first-round pick, per Laine. The Bucs did their homework on Trask and utilized Arians’ close relationship with Florida head coach Dan Mullens. Trask admitted he saw Tampa Bay as a potential landing spot in the draft.
“I definitely wasn’t 100 percent sure about anything just because I know how crazy the draft can be,” Trask noted, via ESPN. “I was just super excited when I saw that Tampa, Florida, number call me. It was a feeling like no other. … I was just like, ‘Man, it was unbelievable.'”
The Buccaneers did not provide a specific timeline for when Trask could take the field, but the team clearly sees him as someone with enough potential to eventually become an NFL starting quarterback. Trask will have the luxury of sitting behind Brady for the foreseeable future barring an unforeseen injury. Brady just signed an extension which puts the quarterback under contract in Tampa Bay for at least the next two seasons.