Buccaneers reportedly cutting QB Kyle Trask, opening door for Teddy Bridgewater to be Baker Mayfield’s backup

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reportedly parting ways with their longtime backup quarterback. According to ESPN, the Bucs plan to release Kyle Trask after he signed a one-year deal with the franchise this past March. Trask will now revert to injured reserve due to a shoulder issue, but will then be cut loose to pursue other opportunities.

Barring other roster moves, the team moving on from Trask clears the way for 32-year-old Teddy Bridgewater to be Baker Mayfield’s backup in 2025. Bridgewater, the former first-round pick who spent last year coaching high school football in Miami, signed with Tampa Bay earlier this month. He was suspended from his coaching position after providing what were deemed to be impermissible benefits to his players.

Trask, who served as the backup in Tampa for four seasons, was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Florida after leading the FBS in passing touchdowns with 43. He actually battled Mayfield for the starting job in 2023 before coach Todd Bowles decided to go with the former No. 1 overall pick under center. 

Trask appeared in a total of seven regular-season games and completed 4 of 11 passes for 28 yards without a touchdown or interception. In three preseason games this year, Trask completed 28 of 43 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown. 

Bridgewater was picked in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings back in 2014 and he served as the team’s starter for his first two seasons before a gruesome injury kept him out for all of 2016 and most of 2017. From there, he bounced around between the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions before landing with the Bucs. 

For his career, Bridgewater has played in 79 games with 65 starts and thrown for 15,120 yards, 87 touchdowns and 75 interceptions while completing 66.4% of his throws. And though he hasn’t seen the field much in recent seasons, he seems to have shown Tampa’s coaching staff enough to make him the No. 2 quarterback entering the regular season.

The Bucs will open the year on the road against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 7.