For Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans hoping for a resolution on who will be the new starting quarterback, the team’s new offensive coordinator has some bad news for them.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the midst of a major transition on the offensive side of the ball. On a technical level, the offense will look and play differently after the organization fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich after four seasons. They then replaced him with former Seattle Seahawks QB coach Dave Canales.
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However, as impactful as a coordinator change is, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also lost legendary signal-caller Tom Brady after the future Hall-of-Famer retired in February. Filling that massive void in 2023 will either be 2022 second-round pick Kyle Trask or veteran Baker Mayfield.
Usually, picking who is the starting QB is something teams want to get out of the way early. However, Canales wants a competition to play out for “as long as possible.”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers record (2022): 8-9, first place in NFC South
On Wednesday, Canales was asked about making a choice for who will be under center sooner than later, but the coach who was there as the Seattle Seahawks had an extended competition between Drew Lock and Geno Smith believes a battle is a “win-win” and is in no rush to bring this upcoming competition to a quick end.
“I don’t think we need to rush to make any decisions, is my opinion. Wait as long as you can, as long as possible. Our offense and defense — they don’t need us to name a starter, trust me. We got studs up front on the offensive line, a veteran presence. We got a veteran presence at the wide receiver position. We got a really good group of backs, and the defense is fantastic.
“The way we’re building it, even with the draft, this is not a team, that’s like, ‘We gotta know who the starter is gonna be so that we can move forward and figure out who we’re going to be.’ I don’t think so. I think the way that we’re going to play it, I’ll have both guys ready to be really, really successful and efficient at what we’re doing.”
– Dave Canales
Training camp for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2023 season kicks off on July 27.
