Kyle Trask is poised to hit free agency next week for the first time in his NFL career and has no idea what to expect. The Bucs backup quarterback has rarely seen the field in his four years in Tampa Bay since being the team’s second-round pick in 2021 following the team’s Super Bowl LV win.
“I don’t know – I really don’t know what to expect because I’ve never done this before,” Trask told Pewter Report. “There are only 32 job openings for a quarterback in the NFL. Just control what you can control.
“Yes, it’s cliche, but I try to talk to some of the backups around the league after games and stuff, to see what their thought process is. Kind of the same for those guys – just keep preparing like you’re the starter because obviously, you got to be ready. Something happens – you want to keep this thing going.”
The problem for Trask is that Tom Brady didn’t miss a single start during his final two years in Tampa Bay from 2021-22, and Baker Mayfield has been healthy enough to start every single one of the games over the past two seasons. That has impeded Trask’s chances of getting a look as a possible starter elsewhere around the league.
Bucs QB Kyle Trask, C Graham Barton and OL Robert Hainsey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Trask has only made seven appearances in regular games over the past three seasons, mostly to take a knee following a Bucs victory. He’s completed just 4-of-11 passes (36.4%) for 28 yards over his career with most of those attempts coming in the second half of a Week 18 loss at Atlanta at the end of the 2022 season after Tampa Bay had clinched the NFC South division crown.
The flip side is that he’s never sustained an injury and has plenty of tread left on his tires at age 27, which he turned on Thursday, March 6.
“It definitely doesn’t hurt to be healthy,” Trask said. “You have to be prepared to play, and if you’re not healthy, that doesn’t do any good. I definitely do take great pride in taking care of my body still, even though I’m not getting hit or things like that. Make sure I’m avoiding any soft tissue injuries. Just taking that extra step to make sure I might be available just in case anything were to happen.”
Kyle Trask Could Be Pursued By Other Teams In Free Agency
Bucs QB Kyle Trask and former OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Kyle Trask is coming off the best preseason of his career, completing 65.1% of his passes for 393 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. In four preseasons with the Bucs, Trask has completed 62.2% of his passes for 1,671 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. But the problem is that’s all the NFL game film that teams really have to evaluate leading up to the start of free agency, which begins on Monday.
There is a chance that former Bucs assistant general manager John Spytek, who is now the Raiders general manager, would be interested in Trask. Las Vegas moved on from Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder, and only has Aidan O’Connell and Carter Bradley, a rookie on the practice squad last year, on their 2025 roster right now.
And Jacksonville could be interested in Trask if new head coach Liam Coen was truly fond of him from his stint as the Bucs offensive coordinator last year. Mac Jones, who was Trevor Lawrence’s backup last year, is rumored to be targeted by San Francisco in free agency. Jones was a former first-round pick of the Patriots in 2021, which was also the year that Trask was drafted.
Bucs Have Another QB Option Aside From Kyle Trask In Michael Pratt
The Bucs would like to have Trask return to backup Baker Mayfield this year, but also have Michael Pratt, who was signed to the practice squad after he was released by Green Bay, who drafted him in the seventh round. Ideally, Tampa Bay would like to have Trask and Pratt battle for the right to be QB2 behind Mayfield in training camp.
“I like Trask,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “I think he’s a good football player. He just came behind Brady and now Baker. It’s just kind of tough to get on the field.”
Bucs QB Michael Pratt – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R
Despite having Trask on the roster last year as Mayfield’s backup, Tampa Bay nearly drafted Pratt in the seventh round – only to see Green Bay select him one spot ahead of the Bucs. But when the Packers cut him after the preseason, the Bucs pounced on Pratt and signed him to the practice squad.
If Trask were to move on from Tampa Bay this offseason then Pratt would likely ascend to the backup role, but the team would certainly bring in another quarterback to compete with him in training camp.
“Pratt, we think he’s very talented,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “When we got him, he didn’t really have a chance to get the system down because he was playing scout team all the time. You can’t really get those plays in. Having this spring will be important for him.
“And if we lost Trask, we’d probably look to add one, whether it’s a younger one or an older one remains to be seen. [Someone] who can probably fit our system and learn it the best, but that’s something we’ve talked about for sure. We really want to get a chance to see what Pratt can do this spring because it’s not fair to evaluate him just playing the scout team.”
Trask has not lost confidence in himself while he waits for his first real opportunity to play quarterback in a regular season game.
Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“I got a lot of belief in myself,” Trask said. “Whenever I’m out there, I feel like I have a good grasp of the system and I feel really confident making sure everyone’s on the same page. Just keep trekking along, keep preparing, and stay ready to play.”
What keeps Trask feeling positive about his future is the fact that there have been plenty of quarterbacks who have continued to play into their late 30s or even early 40s lately. And several former backups, such as Geno Smith, Sam Darnold and even Mayfield, have resurrected their careers when given another chance to start later in their careers.
“Yeah, for sure,” Trask said. “Especially at the quarterback position, you’ve got to keep it all in perspective because there are only so many job openings. There are only so many opportunities and you never know when that’s going to come. It could come next year. It could come five years from now. You never know.
“You look at some of the situations of the guys you just named. Geno had a long stretch where he wasn’t playing but he finally got his opportunity and he was ready for it. None of us can predict the future, so you just have to do your best to be ready at all times. That’s our job, to be ready, so trying to do my best with that.”
