As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers open training camp, one of the biggest questions around the team concerns who will be under center at quarterback when Week 1 rolls around.
We know it won't be Tom Brady, despite any last-minute rumors that pop up. Brady retired back in February, a move that put in motion events that have led us to where we are on Tuesday with the Bucs opening camp with Baker Mayfield competing for the starting job.
Mayfield was signed back in March to compete with Kyle Trask, who is the only guy in the quarterback room returning from last year's team. Brady is retired and Blaine Gabbert signed a deal to backup Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.
When Mayfield arrived, he was billed as competition for Trask in order to challenge the third-year player and see if he has what it takes to prove he can be a franchise quarterback. That felt a little flimsy at the time and has only continued to age poorly.
In fact, it sounds like the truth of the situation at quarterback is accidentally leaking out just when the supposed competition was going to start.
Did Todd Bowles confirm Baker Mayfield will be Bucs starting QB?
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles opened training camp by speaking with the media and addressing certain position battles that should be watched closely over the next month.
Perhaps the biggest thing he said was something he didn't actually say at all. Bowles talked about what he views as the closest cam battles and did not mention the one happening at quarterback.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles says that the closest position battles will be at wide receiver, running back, defensive line, and secondary. There will be a lot of backup positions up for grabs.
— PewterReport 🏴☠️ (@PewterReport) July 25, 2023
It doesn't take a genius to read between the lines and start jumping to conclusions about Mayfield already having won the battle.
To be fair, that's always been the expectation even if the team has refused to admit it out loud. Mayfield signed with the Bucs to be the starter, not to simply be a video game boss that Kyle Trask must defeat on his way to proving himself.
There always has been, and still exists, the possibilty that Mayfield is outplayed at camp and doesn't win the starting role. However, the assumption has always been that he's the unspoken leader in the clubhouse and something drastic needs to happen for that to change.
Bowles mentioned in his opening remarks that he has a timeline in his head of when he wants to decide on a starting quarterback. Nothing will become official until then, but the battle not even being front of mind or close in the eyes of Bowles certainly tips his hand.