Post-Tom Brady Buccaneers Need Kyle Trask Plan
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are once again caught up in potential tumult as they have been throughout the 2021 season. Unfortunately, it is not going to play out on the field this Championship Sunday but off the field and it involves their biggest star.
Tom Brady has retired and this will impact rookie Kyle Trask one way or another.
Brady, at age 44, had arguably his best statistical year ever throwing for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns. The fact that he wasn’t necessarily going to play after 2021 couldn’t have been a big surprise to the Bucs or to the rest of the NFL, who clearly would rather him retire than have to compete against him.
Based on this information, as smart and capable as Head Coach Bruce Arians and General Manager Jason Licht are, a Plan B option was put in place a year ago when the Bucs drafted Trask.
The decision to be made about what comes next at the most important position in sports for Tampa Bay doesn’t center around Trask but will certainly hint on what the team thinks of him. Yes, they drafted him out of Florida with the 64th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 Draft.
However, for a team that is still ready to win now, can the Bucs afford to throw an inexperienced guy from a school with a questionable (at best) QB pedigree in the league into the fire and expect him to lead the Bucs back to a Super Bowl Championship?
Trask isn’t Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow, and neither one of those first rounders even made it to the playoffs in his first year as a starter. Is it possible he could, though? Well, anything is possible, but that depends on if the Bucs are willing to risk another year or more of his growing pains to find out.
If Tampa Bay believes in Kyle Trask long term, the best play may be to go and do like they did after the 2019 season when Jameis Winston was jettisoned. See what veteran with the chance to bring the Bucs another Lombardi Trophy is out there and bring him in to lead a still talented roster with Super Bowl capabilities. Let Trask learn, develop and then, perhaps hand him the keys after another World Championship or two arrives at One Buc Place.