Baker Mayfield gets candid on battle with Kyle Trask for Buccaneers’ QB1 role - “Nothing new to me”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are facing a quarterback battle between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. To put it mildly, there's no real winner for the fans that will come close to creating the same level of excitement as Tom Brady did for the past three years.
There was an expectation for Mayfield to get handed the job after he signed with Tampa Bay in free agency, but training camp is proving different. Both quarterbacks are splitting first-team reps, and the coaches have not made a decision on who's going to be the starter when Week 1 arrives.
But Mayfield says he's not afraid of the battle with Trask:
“I had to win the job at Texas Tech as a walk-on. When I got to Oklahoma, I sat out a year and still had to compete for a job,” Mayfield said Thursday morning after the workout at the AdventHealth Training Center.
“And then in Cleveland, when I got drafted, Tyrod Taylor was still the quarterback. So I’ve had to compete my whole life. Nothing new to me.”
What is Baker Mayfield's 2023 salary with the Buccaneers?
The former No. 1 pick, who started his career with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, is set to earn $8.5 million on his one-year deal with the Buccaneers.
His way to the franchise was a complicated one. Throughout the start of his career with the Browns, Mayfield was an inconsistent quarterback, but he sparked the franchise's hopes more than once with some flashes of excellence. His 2020 playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers was also notable.
But with Deshaun Watson available in the 2022 offseason after another inconsistent season by Mayfield, Cleveland pulled the trigger even with Watson's many sexual harassment accusations. This way, they essentially told Mayfield he wasn't important anymore, and he was dealt to the Carolina Panthers.
Released midway through the 2022 season due to poor performances, he found his way again when he teamed with Sean McVay in the Los Angeles Rams until the end of the season following the loss of starting quarterback Matthew Stafford.
His great performances saw his NFL stock rise again, and he's now with the Buccaneers.