With Tom Brady now retired, presumably “for good,” the Buccaneers have one quarterback on their roster.
By definition, that makes Kyle Trask the Bucs’ QB1.
The Bucs have heaped praise on Trask, a second-round selection in 2021, but they aren’t naming him the starter.
“Yeah, we’re very excited about Kyle,” General Manager Jason Licht said Tuesday. “We’re very excited about him getting the opportunity to be the starter. We’d be very comfortable with that. [We’re] excited – I’ve used that word already, but I really am – for him to get a chance to be with the starters in offseason, starters in training camp, starters in preseason, which he’s never done. He was a successful quarterback in the SEC – I mean, wildly successful. We took him in the second round for a reason. We didn’t take him in the second round just to be a third-string quarterback. Now, it has yet to be seen what he turns out to be, but we’re confident that it’s going to be very good.”
In truth, the Bucs don’t have a choice but to heap praise on Trask, and they might not have a choice but to start him.
Trask has dressed for only two regular-season games in his two-year career, with one appearance. He got into the regular-season finale against the Falcons in 2022 and went 3-of-9 for 23 yards in mop-up duty.
In two preseasons, Trask has completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 779 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.
While Todd Bowles reportedly told offensive coordinator candidates that Trask will compete for the job, the head coach isn’t ready to declare Trask the opening day starter.
“I didn’t say he can be No. 1 yet,” Bowles said. “I said he can compete. I see the work ethic. I see the toughness. I see the willingness to get better every day. It’s hard to get reps when you have a guy like Tom Brady in front of you that’s playing all the time, so he’ll have an opportunity to compete to become No. 1 . . . and that’s all you can ask for in this league.”
The Bucs will add competition, but they are $56 million over the salary cap. So, the Bucs aren’t signing or trading for a star quarterback. That surely improves Trask’s odds of winning the job.