Could Bucs Possibly Reunite With Former QB Kyle Trask?

The biggest quarterback question that the Bucs have in the 2026 offseason is if they are going to give a contract extension to Baker Mayfield, and is he even willing to sign one? They do have another question on a smaller scale, though, about who their backup quarterback next season is going to be.

The group that the Buccaneers brought out last year was long-time veteran Teddy Bridgewater and undrafted free agent Conner Bazelak. It wasn’t until August of this latest season when Bridgewater signed with Tampa Bay in training camp. The thought at the time was that Bridgewater and Kyle Trask, a former second-round pick, would battle it out for who would be the backup quarterback to Mayfield and the other would be third-string.

But as it turned out, Bridgewater proved to stand out quickly and the competition, unbeknownst to the public, ended up being between Trask against Bazelak, an undrafted free agent. In a bit of a shocking twist, Tampa Bay opted for the rookie over Trask, who didn’t improve enough in three regular seasons and four preseasons with the team.

Could Bridgewater, who just turned 33, return to the Bucs for the 2026 season? Its certainly possible, but it’s not a guarantee as he came out of retirement last year to play. If he doesn’t, that would leave the Tampa Bay with a couple of options. The easiest would just be bumping up Bazelak to QB2, but that’s a huge risk for a very inexperienced quarterback.

Another option would be to go with an inexpensive veteran quarterback, although there are not a lot of great choices, evidenced by the likes of Mitchell Trubisky, Gardner Minshew, Skylar Thompson, etc. The Buccaneers could always select a quarterback in a later round on Day 3, but considering other needs on this team, especially on defense, that doesn’t appear to be the best use of draft resources this year.

Kyle Trask’s Return To Bucs Is Not Out Of The Question 

Considering the Bucs’ cap situation, they won’t be putting much more into another quarterback than the $1.25 million they gave to Bridgewater. 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.

When the Buccaneers let go of Trask during roster cuts at the end of training camp, he had a couple of tryouts during the season, eventually signing to Atlanta’s practice squad in November and staying there the rest of the season. He was elevated for three games in his time with the Falcons due to injuries at the position.

Trask was not signed to a futures contract with the Falcons following the season, but there’s a chance that the coaching overturn played a factor as Atlanta parted ways with head coach Raheem Morris. So why would a possible Trask return to the Bucs makes sense? Well, let’s remember that new Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was the play-caller for the Falcons last season so he has seen Trask firsthand.

Trask got a crash course of Robinson’s system, and although it will be adjusted with the personnel that Tampa Bay has, these are all players that Trask has worked with before in his time with the Buccaneers. Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan, Bucky Irving and all of the offensive linemen have spent at least one season with Trask while in a red and pewter uniform.

Attempting only 11 passes in his NFL career doesn’t give Trask a lot of experience. With that said, he’s still way more experienced than Bazelak at this point. Bazelak is looked at as a developmental project, so it’s one of those situations where even though Bazelak has more potential than Trask and outperformed him, Trask would be the first off the bench in this scenario, especially if it’s in the middle of a game.

Considering Trask is familiar with his surroundings and would be inexpensive, a reunion in Tampa Bay might be worth considering for everyone involved. This isn’t to say that it would definitely occur, but connecting the dots makes this potential transaction at least somewhat of a possibility.