Todd Bowles latest decision is bad news for Kyle Trask

Despite entering the offseason with high hopes for Kyle Trask, it appears the writing might be on the wall for this future with the Buccaneers.

With NFL Free Agency winding down, and NFL Draft prep ramping up, teams around the league are continuing to think about the future.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the central question of the offseason remains unanswered even if some impressive moves have been made since free agency began. There remains a void under center in Tampa, as a successor to Tom Brady has yet to be named.

A new candidate emerged in free agency when the team signed Baker Mayfield to a one-year, $4 million contract. It’s a deal that could pay the former No. 1 overall pick up to $8.5 million if all goes well, but that would mean impacting the future of another quarterback in the room.

MORE: Best memes about Bucs signing Baker Mayfield

Up until Baker was signed, Kyle Trask was the only quarterback on the roster. As such, conversations were had about whether or not he could be the quarterback of the future, a question that got a little more complicated once Baker joined rank.

Trask very well could still be the guy the Bucs build around, but it’s looking increasingly like he’s the odd-man-out again. For one hot minute he was talked about as The Guy, but he’s now been relegated back to being an afterthought, and it appears that goes beyond just the talking head around the team and to the guy in charge of it.

Todd Bowles hasn’t spoken to Kyle Trask since free agency started

According to JoeBucsFan, Todd Bowles said that he hasn’t spoken to Trask since the team signed Baker Mayfield back at the start of free agency.

"One might think Bowles would have picked up the phone to call Trask after the Mayfield signing, just for the sake of communicating to the 2021 second-round pick where he stands and to keep up his spirits. But Bowles said last week at the NFC Coaches Breakfast that he has not talked to Trask since Mayfield joined the Bucs and followed his signing with hours of media interviews."

That’s not exactly a great sign for Trask, but it doesn’t seal his fate or his future with the Bucs.

Not having the head coach of a team call a potential starting quarterback isn’t great, and it certainly seems to reinforce the idea that Baker is already the clubhouse leader to be the starter. That being said, Trask controls his own future and the only phone call made or not made is the one is one that will happen in August.

It’s always come down to that and nothing more. It doesn’t matter what happens to Trask in April, all that matters is whether or not he can earn the job when it counts. Bringing in Baker Mayfield is going to tell the Bucs one way or another what they need to know about Trask.

If he beats Baker then he has a full season to prove he’s a franchise quarterback worth building around, and if he loses then the Bucs can plan accordingly without him in the picture.