TAMPA, Florida — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially named its starting quarterback for the 2023 NFL Season.
After six months of competing against Kyle Trask, head coach Todd Bowles officially announced after Tuesday’s training camp practice that Baker Mayfield will be the new quarterback for the team.
Mayfield, who signed with the Bucs in March as a free agent on a one-year contract worth up to $8.5 million, has only appeared in one preseason game so far. That came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Preseason Week 1. He completed eight of his nine passes, recording 63 passing yards and a touchdown pass to rookie Trey Palmer.
“Baker [Mayfield] is our starting quarterback. Kyle [Trask] is number two," Bowles said. "There’s a lot that goes into it. I can’t sit up here and give you every detail. We go through mini-camp, training camp and OTAs. We love everything Kyle [Trask] has done and he’s gotten leaps and bounds better – and he has in the spring, and he’s continuing to get better.
"We’re excited about him. Baker is our guy right now – experience-wise and understanding the playbook just a little bit better. Kyle is on the come [up] but we like both guys, we like where we’re at. Baker is the one and Kyle is the two.”
New offensive coordinator Dave Canales has reiterated his decision on having a quarterback battle between Mayfield and Trask; and, for the most part, he has been committed to that thinking.
This is something Bowles echoed.
“It’s always great to have competition. You want to prop up both guys and make sure they’re competing hard and learning everything and doing what they’ve got to do," he said. "You don’t ever want to give anybody a job. Every year at every position, you’ve got to come in and earn your spot. It’s no different this year with quarterbacks and a new coordinator learning the system.”
Mayfield and Trask were both given reps with the first-team offense in training camp and each started a game in the two preseason games so far, but the cat pretty much came out of the bag on Saturday night against the New York Jets when Trask was told to get back in the game in the second half after third-string quarterback John Wolford suffered a neck injury.
With Trask playing more minutes, it indicated Mayfield won the starting job since most NFL teams during this point of the preseason usually keep their starters' playing time lower than other players.
However, even before preseason, Mayfield said he has done enough in training camp to prove he can be the team's starting quarterback.
"Our QB room has been playing extremely well this camp. Between John [Wolford] and Kyle [Trask] – everybody pushing each other. I can’t say enough about those guys in that room that we have as a whole. The chemistry is great," he said. "But yeah, I feel like I was comfortable enough within the system, commanded the offense and was able to get guys in the right spots. It’s not saying anything against anybody else, I just feel like I’m in good command of the offense.”
Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft after being selected by the Cleveland Browns. He also had stints in Cleveland, Carolina and Los Angeles. Mayfield also recorded a playoff win with the Browns in 2020.
The Bucs’ final preseason game is scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 inside Raymond James Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens. Bowles confirmed all starters will play the first half of that game.