Buccaneers’ Veteran Named One of NFL’s Worst Backup QBs

From the outside looking in, it appears as if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are happy with what they have in their quarterback room were disaster to strike with starter Baker Mayfield. 

Tampa Bay’s backup the last three seasons, Kyle Trask, is back in that same role. Last year’s third quarterback, John Wolford, was released on the final day of roster cuts. The team moved quickly to sign Michael Pratt to the practice squad.

That confidence isn’t totally shared by the football viewing public. Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton ranked all 32 NFL backup quarterbacks and put Trask almost all the way at the bottom. Trask was ranked No. 30, only ahead of Los Angeles Rams backup Stetson Bennett and Arizona Cardinals backup Clayton Tune.

Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Justin Fields took the No. 1 spot in the rankings.

Buccaneers Spent Early-Round Pick on Trask

Trask was named All-SEC for Florida in 2020 after he threw for career highs of 4,328 yards, 43 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. Tampa Bay selected him in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft and he backed up Tom Brady for 2 seasons, then Mayfield in 2023.

Trask has only played in 3 games in that time with zero starts, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’s now in the final year of the 4-year, $5.8 million rookie contract he signed in 2021.

Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles gave Trask the slight edge over Wolford before preseason games started — a position Trask further cemented by going 41-of-63 passing for 393 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in 3 preseason games.

Would Buccaneers Hand Offense Over to Trask?

Mayfield has been surprisingly durable during his six seasons in the NFL and is prone to play through injuries.

He started all 17 games for Tampa Bay in 2023 and only missed three games due to injury during four seasons with the Cleveland Browns after they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Still, a more secure backup option might be former NFL Comeback Player of the Year Ryan Tannehill, who is an unrestricted free agent.

In 2019, Tannehill took over as the starter for Marcus Mariota for the final 10 games of the season and guided the Titans to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Tannehill was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year and made his only Pro Bowl, but the real reward came in the offseason with a 4-year, $118 million contract.

“Former Los Angeles Rams and Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator Liam Coen is the new OC, replacing the Carolina-bound Dave Canales,” The Draft Network’s Justin Melo wrote on May 13. “Tannehill is a significantly better fit to operate Coen’s offense than current backup Kyle Trask. Coen runs a variation of the West Coast Offense that Tannehill played in under Matt LaFleur, Arthur Smith, and Todd Downing in Tennessee. Trask’s time in Tampa is running out.”

It’s not clear if the Buccaneers would hand the keys to the offense over to Trask if Mayfield went down. The last time the franchise had the opportunity for Trask to step into a starting role, they moved quickly to sign Mayfield to a 1-year, $4 million contract before the 2023 season and he responded with the best season of his career.