Tampa Bay have agreed to trade Kyle Trask today over $120.4m his gone……….
Buccaneers have a full-blown quarterback competition on their hands ahead of their preseason opener on Friday.
On the unofficial depth chart released by the Bucs on Tuesday, the starting quarterback is listed as “Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask.”
That suggests neither Mayfield nor Trask have clearly separated themselves early in training camp, meaning Tampa’s three preseason games will be paramount in deciding who starts Week 1 of the regular season.
The Bucs are looking to replace arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, as seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady retired at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Trask, 25, is a 2021 second-round pick out of Florida and the top holdover option, while the 28-year-old Mayfield is the outside veteran free-agent signing looking for another opportunity to prove he can be an NFL starter.
After enjoying a highly productive collegiate career at Florida, Trask was selected as a development prospect to sit and learn behind Brady. As a result, he only appeared in one regular-season game over his first two NFL seasons, completing three of his nine pass attempts for 23 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Starting Trask would represent the Buccaneers wiping the slate clean and starting from the ground floor with a new quarterback after watching an all-time great ride off into the sunset.
There is plenty of merit to that idea, but given that the Bucs are a veteran-laden team on both sides of the ball, going with a quarterback who gives them the best chance to win now is an avenue worth exploring as well.
It can be argued that Mayfield is a better option than Trask to compete for an NFC South title in 2023 based on the fact that he has 69 career starts and 72 career games under his belt.
After winning the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma, Mayfield went first overall to the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL draft as they passed on two eventual superstar quarterbacks in Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
Mayfield went 29-30 as a starter in Cleveland, and it can be argued that there were slightly more downs than ups in his tenure, but he accomplished some big things as well.
After finishing second in the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2018, Mayfield led the Browns to an 11-5 record in 2020.
That gave the Browns their first playoff appearance since 2002, and they also beat the rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Round, giving them their first playoff win since the 1994 season.
Mayfield seemed poised to land a massive contract extension, but then he suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder early in 2021 campaign and struggled for much of the season, going just 6-8, and throwing for only 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
That prompted the Browns to acquire Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans and ship Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers.
Mayfield won the starting job out of training camp last year, but he went just 1-5 as the Panthers’ starter with six touchdowns and six interceptions. Carolina waived Mayfield, and he was claimed by the Los Angeles Rams.
He was quickly thrown into the proverbial fire as L.A.’s starter, and although he went just 1-3, he played much better, throwing for 850 yards, four touchdowns and two picks
Ultimately, the Bucs’ quarterback battle will likely come down to who can best utilize the many quality weapons in Tampa’s passing game, headlined by veteran wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
The first major opportunity for Trask or Mayfield to separate themselves from the other will come Friday when the Bucs host the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first preseason game.
The Bucs’ regular-season opener is set for Sept. 10 when they face the Minnesota Vikings on the road.
