Baker Mayfield Backing Up Tom Brady? Bucs GM (Kinda) Fuels Speculation

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht didn’t exactly poke the fire Wednesday when asked about the possibility of Tampa Bay trading for quarterback Baker Mayfield to back up Tom Brady.

But he also didn’t extinguish the flames.

Licht immediately pointed to Kyle Trask, a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, when Adam Schein of SiriusXM’s “Mad Dog Sports Radio” mentioned the “internet buzz” surrounding a potential Bucs pursuit of Mayfield. The GM also acknowledged veteran QB Blaine Gabbert, who served as Brady’s primary backup the past two seasons and still could return in 2022.

But when asked point-blank whether the Buccaneers would add somebody like Mayfield, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick who’s been the subject of trade rumors in wake of the Cleveland Browns acquiring Deshaun Watson, Licht offered a rather vague answer that’ll only feed into the speculation.

“We might still add someone,” Licht said. “I don’t want to talk about a player that’s on another team’s roster right now, but we still may add a veteran quarterback. We’re just gonna kinda have to see how it goes here.”

A non-answer? Sure, for the most part. But that’s the point.

Licht probably took the right path in tip-toeing around the question while leaving the door open for Tampa Bay to add a quarterback, either via free agency or trade. This has been a crazy NFL offseason, though, and anything less than definitively ruling out a pursuit of Mayfield is sure to raise eyebrows.