Getty Image / Cliff Welch
This offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were stuck with one of the league’s toughest tasks.
They had to replace the GOAT at quarterback after Tom Brady decided he was actually going to stay retired this year.
After Brady retired, the team’s leading option to replace Brady was Kyle Trask, who they drafted in the 2nd round 2 years ago.
Then they went out and signed Baker Mayfield, who was assumed by many to be the clear choice to be the starting QB for the 2023 season.
It has turned out that things aren’t actually all that clear.
Reports coming out of Buccaneers’ training camp have indicated that Baker has been struggling. He reportedly threw 7 interceptions in his first 9 practices at camp.
Meanwhile, Trask has been doing a much better job than him when it comes to protecting the ball.
Mayfield’s struggles have made this a real QB competition at Bucs camp and the door has seemingly been opened for Trask to potentially win the starting job.
With the team still waiting to decide on their starter, it has become easy to wonder how they would handle the QBs during the offseason.
Today, head coach Todd Bowles revealed the plan.
He told the media that he hasn’t decided who will start the first game, but whoever starts that game, the other QB will start game 2.
Bucs’ Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask each to get at least 1 preseason start https://t.co/AudQVwdEmi
— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) August 8, 2023
That first game comes this Friday against the Pittsburgh Steelers while the second comes next Saturday against the Jets.
Both quarterbacks will need to impress if they want to be the guy for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. Mayfield has the experience edge, but the Bucs clearly believed that Trask might be their starter one day when they selected him in round 2.
If Baker Mayfield’s play doesn’t improve or Kyle Trask puts on a particularly strong performance, that day could be coming pretty soon.