Could Kyle Trask Replace Tom Brady? Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Weighs In
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently stuck in a tricky position, to put it lightly: Having to replace the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
The Bucs plan to assess every option available in order to fill Tom Brady's role as the team's signal-caller, including those that are already on the roster as well as potential free agent and trade targets.
"[Brady's retirement is] something that we knew was going to happen at some point. It didn’t completely shock us in the last 24 hours that this could happen, so we’ve been preparing," general manager Jason Licht said on Tuesday. "We were in this situation a couple of years ago where [head coach] Bruce [Arians] and I both said we’ll have to look behind door No. 2. We’re at that position again."
Door No. 2 could include a variety of quarterbacks, perhaps stars such as Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson if they demand a trade from their teams as has been speculated for over a year now. Behind door No. 1, on the roster, is rising second-year pro Kyle Trask, who the Buccaneers selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Trask served as Tampa Bay's No. 4 quarterback throughout his rookie season, inactive for every game and learning to play the position at the pro level behind Brady and Blaine Gabbert on the active roster as well as practice squad passer Ryan Griffin. The team is excited about his future given his skill-set and the lack of stress he endured as a rookie, under no pressure to take the field.
"We’re very excited about the development of Kyle, where he has come from in the last year and what he has done – just being able to sit behind Tom, Blaine and Ryan, as well, in that room with [quarterbacks coach] Clyde [Christensen], [offensive consultant] Tom Moore and B.A.," Licht shared.
"I couldn’t think of a better experience for a young quarterback to spend his rookie year than with the greatest player of all time.”
WIth Brady no longer in the picture, the Bucs could opt for Trask as their starter in 2022 and beyond should they not pursue an outside option, although the club could also choose to retain Gabbert. However, if Tampa Bay goes with the first of those two plans, could this cause Tampa Bay to speed up Trask's development plan? Not quite, Licht explained.
"I don’t think we necessarily need to speed up the process with Kyle because I think we have him on a good track right now," said Licht. "He's been well-coached and he’s had unbelievable resources to lean on to get to where he is right now. We’ll see where that goes, we don’t want to rush anybody."
Given Licht's confidence in Trask's progress with Brady and company teaching him the ropes, it appears as though the young signal-caller will have a chance to compete for the Bucs' starting quarterback role in the upcoming season. The team will observe the market for passers with experience, but if no outside option comes makes its way to Tampa Bay, Licht is confident that Trask will be ready to at least fight for the job.
"We’re not crowning Kyle as the heir apparent yet, but we feel very fortunate that we got him when we did last year because where he stacks up with quarterbacks in this year’s draft, [and] everybody’s going to have their own opinion, but I feel pretty good about where he stacks up with these quarterbacks," said Licht. "So, I feel like we made a good decision last year.”
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