Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles on Tuesday named Baker Mayfield as the team’s starting quarterback.
Bowles revealed his decision two days after telling reporters that he didn’t “have a timetable on it.”
Mayfield is receiving the nod over third-year quarterback Kyle Trask for the Buccaneers, who open the season against the host Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 10.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. I can’t sit up here and give you every detail,” Bowles said of his decision, per the Tampa Bay Times. “We go through man training camp (practices) and OTAs and we love everything Kyle has done. He’s gotten leaps and bounds better. And he has in the spring and he’s continuing to get better. And we’re excited about Baker. We like where we’re at right now. Experience wise and his understanding the playbook [is] just a little bit better.”
Mayfield signed a one-year, $4 million contract with Tampa Bay in March as the presumed starter after making three stops during a whirlwind 2022. Traded from the Cleveland Browns to Carolina that offseason, he went 2-8 with 2,163 yards, 10 touchdown passes and eight interceptions with the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.
Mayfield, 28, is 31-38 as a starter since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland in 2018.
Trask, 25, has only appeared in one regular-season game since Tampa Bay drafted him in the second round in 2021. He is 3-for-9 passing for 23 yards.
–Field Level Media