Brady’s heir in Tampa Bay, who will be Buccaneers quarterback?

Dark days may be laying ahead for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a season of many more downs than ups, the greatest football played in the history of the game has hung up his pads for good and now the Bucs will have to find someone to fill that monumental vacancy under center.

Post-Brady era coming

Tampa Bay knew this day would come when they brought Tom Brady in three offseason ago. They went all in on a legendary, albeit, aging quarterback in hopes that he would bring them the Super Bowl glory that had eluded them for nearly two decades. The gamble paid off in the first year, as Brady took a wild card team to the Super Bowl and dominated the Kansas City Chiefs to lift their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.

Brady has retired once before, and comeback but it seems highly unlikely that he will waver on his decision for a second straight year. Which means that Bucs head coach Todd Bowles will have to look for a replacement for the G.O.A.T. in just his second season as Tampa Bay boss.

Last year was one to forget for the Bucs. Sure, they went to the playoffs but they came out of an NFC South that may have been one of the worst divisions we have seen in the NFL over the last few decades. They ended a game under .500 (8-9) and despite having Tom Brady under center their offense was putrid.

QB competition coming up

Brady still passed for the third most yards in the league, but mostly because Tampa Bay had to try to battle back in most of their games after giving up early leads. They were 25th in the league in scoring offense, at just over 18 ppg which was worst of any team in the playoffs last year. But enough about last year, what’s to be expected this season?

There are currently three quarterbacks on the Bucs depth chart heading into Tampa Bay’s training camps, which starts next week. Baker Mayfield was brought in this offseason, while Kyle Trask seemed as if he would be Brady’s incumbent after being drafted by the Bucs in 2021, but that is far from a certainty. John Wolford is the third option at QB, but barring any surprises it looks like it will be a two horse race for the QB1 position in TB.

There is an apparent open competition for the job as Todd Bowles looks to sort out things on all ends. If the Bucs believe in their draft pick from two years ago, then they are going to have to pull the trigger on him sooner or later. If not Baker is more than likely going to be the starter for Week 1.

Mayfield making his case

The veterans around the locker room have been around Trask for a couple seasons, but having Mayfield around is adding a different dynamic according to LB Lavone David. “Baker is great for our locker room. I like the way Baker carries himself coming in with a ready-to-work mentality. Everybody loves him already and the way he approaches practice is great to see. So there’s definitely some great things to see out of Baker.”

Baker finally broke free from Cleveland last season, but he didn’t find much joy during his temporary stay in Carolina. He lasted for half a season before going to LA and filling in for an injured Matt Stafford for the final few games of the year. The former Oklahoma Sooner had some flashes of brilliance like the miraculous comeback in his debut in LA, but that wasn’t enough to keep him around on a team that already has a starting quarterback.

Mayfield certainly has the experience edge over Trask. He played four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, but only lead his team to the postseason in one of those seasons, which was also the only winning season he had in the NFL. He’s tough, he’s gritty but sometimes his decision making can get him into trouble. In five years in the league, he has thrown for 102 TDs, but has also thrown 64 interceptions which is far from an elite ratio for someone who is looking to make Bucs fans close the book on the Brady era.

Trask on track for QB1?

Trask has barley seen the field in the two years since getting drafted by the Bucs in 2021. He didn’t play a single snap, not even to clock the ball in a game that was over, in his rookie season. Last year he played in one game, throwing nine passes, completing three of them for 23 yards.

His sample size is considerably smaller, but if he has one thing on his side it’s that he has been able to sit back and learn from the best QB to ever play the game. The question is can he put two years worth of learning lessons to good use and take the starting job in Tampa Bay.

Whoever is under center in Week 1 won’t have it easy. The Bucs have a lot of work to do to improve on all sides of the ball, and as we know starting in the opening week doesn’t guarantee you will be there until the end of the season.