Getty
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Kyle Trask.
Whatever flaws the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw in veteran backup quarterback Kyle Trask that led to his release before the 2025 season might not seem so pronounced now.
That’s what going 8-9 and missing the playoffs has the tendency to do. It puts things in perspective. In each of Trask’s 4 seasons as a backup on the Buccaneers after he was selected in the 2nd round (No. 65 overall) of the 2021 NFL draft, the team made the playoffs.
In the 1st season without him, they did not. And looked lost on offense most of the way.
Pewter Report’s Matt Matera floated the possibility of the Buccaneers reuniting with Trask after he spent the 2025 season with the Atlanta Falcons, where he played for new Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
“Considering the Bucs’ cap situation, they won’t be putting much more into another quarterback than the $1.25 million they gave to Bridgewater,” Matera wrote. “That puts Tampa Bay in the bracket for players like Gardner Minshew, Skylar Thompson or Kyle Allen. However, another route they could go with his bringing back Kyle Trask for another go in training camp to see how he looks with a second trial in Tampa Bay.”
Trask Got New Opportunity With Falcons
Trask’s release was perhaps the most shocking personnel move of the offseason for the Buccaneers, who seemed to signal their confidence in him after he signed him to a 1-year, $2.78 million contract in March 2025.
Trask, 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds, got a tryout with the Indianapolis Colts before Week 7 before he finally landed a job with the Falcons.
“(Trask’s) new home with the Falcons makes perfect sense,” Heavy.com’s Christopher Sheppard wrote on November 19. “After the season-ending injury to Michael Penix Jr., the Falcons needed some kind of insurance as they only had two rostered QBs in Kirk Cousins and Easton Stick.”
With the Buccaneers, Trask dutifully served as the backup to consecutive Pro Bowl quarterbacks. First, with 2 seasons behind 3-time NFL MVP Tom Brady followed 2 seasons behind current starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Critics Took Exception to Re-Signing Trask in 2025
Even before his release, NFL insiders were questioning why the Buccaneers would bring back Trask for another season.
ESPN’s Ben Solak called the Buccaneers bringing Trask back as their No. 2 quarterback the team’s worst offseason move.
“I prefer my contending teams to take QB2 a little more seriously,” Solak wrote on March 26. “Trask has attempted exactly 11 passes in NFL action (and completed four of them, for as much as that matters). What happens if Baker Mayfield goes down for a month while the 7-4 Buccaneers are in the thick of the NFC South race? Do they really trust Trask to go 2-2 and keep them on a playoff pace? They’d know better than me, as I have only 11 Trask passes to consider. Far more experienced QB2s were available, though, and I hope the Bucs don’t find themselves wishing they looked elsewhere to bolster the position.”
Another thing to consider for the Buccaneers is taking a quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft and using a Day 2 pick to do so. If the Buccaneers go that route, a player like Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green might be worth taking a flyer on.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
More Heavy on Buccaneers
Loading more stories