Getty Image / Cliff Welch
Baker Mayfield has reportedly already won the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback competition.
He will be starting Week 1 against the Vikings in spite of some preseason struggles.
Throughout the NFL offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been acting like they have a decision to make at quarterback.
They have been approaching the offseason like there is a QB competition between Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield.
So far, Mayfield has not been performing well in training camp.
However, it seems that might not impact the outcome of the competition.
JoeBucsFan’s Ira Kaufman revealed on his podcast that he has been told Mayfield will be the team’s Week 1 starter.
Ira Kaufman Reports Bucs Plan To Start Baker Mayfield In Week 1; "It's Mayfield's Job" (full story) https://t.co/jpzvJCSZw7
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) August 10, 2023
“About this [Kyle] Trask and Mayfield competition, I was told pointedly and without much doubt, Mayfield’s going to be the starter in Minneapolis,” Kaufman said. “That’s what I was told. With all due respect to Trask, who has had a good training camp and Mayfield’s struggled a bit, Mayfield’s getting the ball in Minneapolis.”
He added that it was something that he was told pretty definitively.
“When it was told to me [that Mayfield would start Week 1] it was said in a definitive manner. There was no equivocation. It wasn’t even said, ‘Well, depending on it could change in the preseason games; let’s see what happens.’ No, none of that. It was basically, ‘It’s Mayfield’s job. He’s got it. He’s going to be the starter against Kirk Cousins and those Vikings.’”
Each quarterback is expected to get to start one preseason game each, but it looks like their performances in those starts won’t end up mattering much.
If Mayfield already has the job despite his poor performances, it doesn’t bode well for Trask ever being more than a backup for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For Baker Mayfield, this is probably his last chance to prove he should still be an NFL starter, but is also a pretty good situation with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to.
The Bucs will be hoping he starts taking advantage of the opportunity in his start against the Steelers tomorrow.