Buccaneers Plan to Cut Former Gators QB, Raiders Bound?

Another end of an era has arrived down down in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reportedly planning on releasing former Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask.

NFL veteran quarterback and 2013 Heisman Winner Teddy Bridgewater is the presumed backup to fellow Heisman winner Baker Mayfield this upcoming season.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the longtime Buccaneers quarterback and 2020 Heisman Finalists will revert to the injury reserve with a shoulder issue, then work out a settlement or release soon and look for a new team.

Fowler added that the shoulder issue is considered slight.

One team that could reportedly take a flyer on Trask is the Las Vegas Raiders. The reasoning is that Tom Brady, who Trask backed up for two seasons, is a minority owner, and general manager John Spytek was with the Buccaneers from 2016 to 2024.

Both would be familiar with Trask, having overlapped for a few years with him. The Raiders have a vacant quarterback spot, giving further validity to the possibility.

Trask marks the second former Gators player to be on the way out of Tampa on Monday. Not just during preseason or training camp. Both in one day.

Defensive lineman Desmond Watson was reportedly cut by the Buccaneers earlier in the day. He missed all of training camp with the task of losing weight. Unlike Trask, who will likely find another backup job, Watson's future is a little more uncertain.

Time will tell where both land.

Even though Trask's era with the Buccaneers is coming to an end, reaching this point involved overcoming the odds.

Before getting the chance in Gainesville, Trask hadn't started a game since he was a freshman in high school. He sat behind fellow college quarterback D'Eriq King. He was a mostly unknown three-star recruit who managed to land a scholarship with the Gators during the Jim McElwain regime.

He saw no action for two seasons and saw little action in his third. Then came the Kentucky game in 2019. Feleipe Franks went down with a leg injury. Head coach Dan Mullen called upon Trask to take over with the Gators losing 21-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Gators came back to win, Trask took over as the starter, and the rest was history. In 2019, the Gators went on to finish 11-2 and win the Orange Bowl. The following season, Trask threw 43 touchdowns to eight interceptions and 4,283 yards in 12 games. He did it in what was an entirely SEC slate until they faced Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

With Trask at quarterback, the Gators reached the SEC Championship Game for the first and only time under Mullen. There point during the season where he was the Heisman favorite but ultimately finished in fourth.

The Buccaneers took him in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

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