The retired NFL legend Tom Brady put the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a tough state after retiring ‘for good’ in February this year. Between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask, the Bucs are yet to make their final decision regarding the starting quarterback for the upcoming season.
Kyle became the immediate contender for Tampa Bay’s starter following Brady’s retirement as he had experience playing behind TB12 for two years but after Baker‘s signing, it turned into a competition. However, the Bucs team seems to have decided on their unofficial starting position for the upcoming preseason opening match.
Mayfield and Trask look to shine in Bucs’ ongoing QB duel
According to ProFootballTalk, the Tampa Bay-based team’s head coach Todd Bowles decided to let Mayfield start the preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday and Trask is expected to be a starter next week against Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets. Both of the signal-callers were listed as co-starters on the Bucs’ first official depth chart.
While Mayfield has experience playing more games in the league, his accuracy has been a major concern for his former teams. Meanwhile, Trask turned heads during the training camp with his promising performance and hence, the franchise’s general manager Jason Licht earlier said anyone between these two QBs can be the starter based on their performance in the practice.
“People can have in their head, ‘Well, it seems like it’s for sure going to be this person or it’s not going to be this person,’ but until we’re out there, anything can happen. It’s going to be a lot of fun just to really focus on how this is going to play out,” said Jason.
The 2018 first-round pick’s start of the training camp didn’t look promising as he recorded seven interceptions in nine practices. Both Baker and Trask combined for five interceptions in Tuesday’s session while dividing their schedule working with the first-team offense.
When did Tom Brady retire from the Bucs?
TB12 decided to end his journey with the Bucs by announcing his second-time retirement on February 1, 2022. After being drafted by the New England Patriots, the 46-year-old played two decades with the franchise before heading to Tampa Bay to play two more seasons.
After setting the infamous 0–14 mark in their initial season in the NFL, Tampa Bay earned their first Vince Lombardi trophy in 2003 and then went through a prolonged Super Bowl drought before the three-time NFL MVP brought another Lombardi trophy for them in 2021. However, his last days with the franchise weren’t notable as they finished the season with an 8-9 record and got kicked out in the wild-card game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Nevertheless, the Bucs fans still seem to possess high respect toward Brady for ending a 13-year playoff drought. Though the football prodigy might not think of a U-turn this time, his phenomenal achievements can hardly be forgotten any time soon.
