On the day when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to make several tough decisions, head coach Todd Bowles decided to offer clarity on the notable roster cut he made on the offensive side of the ball.
The Bucs opted to cut former second-round pick Kyle Trask in favor of keeping veteran Teddy Bridgewater as the backup to Baker Mayfield. This doesn't necessarily come as much of a shock, but it is interesting, considering Bridgewater recently signed with the Bucs.
"Obviously, (Bridgewater) brings experience, but he brings a wealth of knowledge — he can command the offense right now," Bowles said. "Him being older has a lot to do with it, but him being accurate and understanding what we're trying to do has a lot to do with it as well," he told the Tampa Bay media.
The Bucs keeping Teddy Bridgewater says everything about their title aspirations
Let's be honest. If something happened to Mayfield and the Bucs were forced to depend on Trask in place of the former no. 1 overall pick, Tampa Bay might just be doomed. That's not saying Trask is an awful player. It's simply saying he is not good enough.
Bridgewater's accuracy and experience are the top two keys at play, here. The Buccaneers have a wealth of talent on offense between all skill positions. If Mayfield went down, though (God forbid), the team would need someone capable of efficiently getting the ball to Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka along with Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan when those two are healthy.
They would need someone savvy enough to make adjustments on the fly. They'd need someone who inspired the utmost belief.
That's Bridgewater, in a nutshell. There are very few veteran backup quarterbacks as good or as qualified as Bridgewater. As soon as the Buccaneers signed Bridgewater, it was the beginning of the end for Trask. That move meant the Bucs were as serious as ever about winning a Super Bowl.
When push comes to shove, a Super Bowl team wants somebody the entire team has no problem rallying around. What better options were available than Bridgewater? To be frank, Tampa Bay lucked into their backup quarterback situation this year. Bridgewater is the perfect fit.