Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask to alternate starts for Buccaneers preseason games

Following the retirement of Tom Brady, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were left with a messy quarterback situation and didn’t have any immediate options to replace the seven-time Super Bowl winner when he finally called it quits.

So, this offseason, Tampa picked up former Browns No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield, who enjoyed pit stops with the Panthers and Rams last year, his first outside of Cleveland. After neither of those clubs saw a future with Mayfield, he wound up hitting free agency this offseason and eventually inked with the Bucs to replace Brady.

TB also has a youngster waiting in the wings in Kyle Trask, who was drafted a couple years ago as a possible replacement for Brady but was always a long-shot as a non-first-round-pick at QB.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the two quarterback options are battling it out down in the bay, with one guy expected to start one preseason game while the other guy will start the other. Here was Rapoport’s report of that news:

“#Bucs coach Todd Bowles tells reporters that Baker Mayfield will start on Friday and Kyle Trask will start next week.”

Bucs list Mayfield OR Trask as starting QB

When Tampa Bay put out its first depth chart Tuesday morning, the team made an interesting decision. It listed Trask “OR” Mayfield as the starting quarterback.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud posted the depth chart on social media, which also showed John Wolford as the third-string QB. That decision is common at the college level, where teams usually list as quarterback “or” another on the depth chart. At the NFL level, though, that’s not as common.

Bucs first depth chart lists Baker Mayfield OR Kyle Trask as the starter. Rookie Calijah Kancey is the starter at DT and Cody Mauch is the other rookie starter at LG. pic.twitter.com/kPnpiUKZAR

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 8, 2023

Tampa Bay is gearing up for its first preseason game Friday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that could be another big step in the battle between Trask and Mayfield.

The Bucs drafted Trask with the No. 32 overall pick in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Florida, where he put together an impressive career. As a junior in 2020, Trask threw for 4,283 yards and 43 touchdowns to help the Gators to an 8-4 record and a Cotton Bowl appearance.

Since entering the league, he has only appeared in one game, completing 3 of 9 passes for 23 yards against the Atlanta Falcons last year. Meanwhile, Mayfield is in his first training camp with Tampa Bay after a whirlwind 2022 season.