Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles named Baker Mayfield as the team’s starting quarterback on Tuesday.
Bowles revealed his decision two days after telling reporters that he didn’t “have a timetable on it.”
Mayfield is receiving the nod over third-year quarterback Kyle Trask for the Buccaneers, who open the season against the host Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 10.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. I can’t sit up here and give you every detail,” Bowles said of his decision. “We go through minicamp, training camp and OTAs. We love everything Kyle has done and he’s gotten leaps and bounds better. And he has in the spring, and he’s continuing to get better. We’re excited about him.
“Baker is our guy right now. Experience wise and understanding the playbook just a little bit better. Kyle is on the come (up), but we like both guys, we like where we’re at. Baker is the one and Kyle is the two.”
Mayfield signed a one-year, $4 million contract with Tampa Bay in March as the presumed starter after making three stops during a whirlwind 2022. Traded from the Cleveland Browns to Carolina that offseason, he went 2-8 with 2,163 yards, 10 touchdown passes and eight interceptions with the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.
“The ultimate goal is always to be playing, so it’s one of those things where – you look at the big picture – it’s one of those things (where) you have to check the box,” he said. “Now is the time to really ramp it up and go from here and start winning ballgames that count.”
Mayfield, 28, is 31-38 as a starter since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland in 2018.
Trask, 25, has only appeared in one regular-season game since Tampa Bay drafted him in the second round in 2021. He is 3-for-9 passing for 23 yards. Bowles indicated the first-team offense will play the first half of the Bucs’ preseason finale, with Trask and the second unit entering in the second half.
“It’s always great to have competition,” Bowles said. “You want to prop up both guys and make sure they’re competing hard and learning everything and doing what they’ve got to do. You don’t ever want to give anybody a job.
“Every year at every position, you’ve got to come in and earn your spot. It’s no different this year with quarterbacks and a new coordinator learning the system.”
Bowles also said MRI results came back negative on third-string quarterback John Wolford, who was hospitalized after suffering a neck injury against the New York Jets in east Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday. He was discharged and returned to Florida with the team on Sunday.
Wolford has a history of stingers while spending the past three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.
“He’s got a history of stingers, so it came up,” Bowles said. “He’s in good spirits. We’ll continue to monitor it and go from there, but he feels good.”