It's been one of the more active and chaotic roster cut periods in recent memory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with some notable names hitting the chopping block.
A few were obvious in hindsight, like undrafted rookies Shilo Sanders and Desmond Watson getting waived, but others got a little bit more of a surprised nod. One of those moments came when the Bucs ripped the band-aid off and ended the Kyle Trask era during the team's second wave of cuts.
Does an era that never really began actually end, though? Teddy Bridgewater came out of retirement and took Trask's job in less than a month, which says a lot about how much of an impact he's made over his four seasons in Tampa Bay.
Trask never got a fair shake with the Bucs, but that's equal parts on his development as it is on circumstances. It's true that Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield successively boxed him out of opportunities to start, but Bridgewater walking in off the street and right into the QB2 role emphasizes the lack of progress that was being made.
That doesn't mean his career is over, though, as Trask has a pretty soft landing spot not too far from home with the Carolina Panthers.
Dave Canales can come to the rescue and sign Kyle Trask
While the Panthers have Andy Dalton behind Bryce Young at the moment, he's dealing with an elbow injury that puts some pressure on Carolina figuring out its backup situation. The solution could be Trask, who would plop into a familiar system but wouldn't be tasked with needing to start thanks to Bryce Young owning that role.
It's more than just Trask who would benefit from the Panthers -- or any team -- signing him.
As Greg Auman explained, Trask signed a one-year, $2.79 million deal that included $1.34M guaranteed, but some of that is subject to offset language. So if he signs with another team, the Bucs wouldn't be on the hook for Trask's $1.17M of his base salary. That's a nice chunk of money Tampa Bay would love to get back, and Canales has the chance to do his old team a solid by bringing in a guy who makes sense for the Panthers while helping the Bucs get some money back.
It's a low-wattage move, so it's not hard to see Canales earning some goodwill in a move that mostly benefits the Panthers. Andy Dalton's age and injury history makes his status with the team a giant question mark, and Trask knows the offense that Carolina runs thanks to his time with Canales in Tampa Bay.
Landing in Carolina makes even more sense after another team was taken off the board late Monday night. In the lead-up to Trask's release, the Las Vegas Raiders were floated as a rather obvious destination. Two former Buccaneers colleagues -- Tom Brady and John Spytek -- are the shot callers in Vegas, and both are familiar with Trask.
That idea went up in smoke when the Raiders opted to trade for Kenny Pickett.
We'll see what happens with Trask but he still has a future somewhere in the NFL. What that exactly looks like is unclear, as career backup seems to be the track he's now on. That's not a bad thing, though, and getting a chance to find his footing again with a familiar face could be what he needs.
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