Baker Mayfield had rolled into the offseason thinking he was the main character. And honestly? Who could blame him? He’d just put up 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and earned his second straight Pro Bowl nod. After bouncing from team to team, Tampa finally looked like the spot where it all clicked. Fans thought his name was set in stone as QB1 for years to come. But that stone already has cracks.

Yeah, those cracks are spreading. And fast. What looked like a locked-in QB1 gig has suddenly gotten shaky. A minor injury opened the door, but what stepped through might turn into a full-blown quarterback dilemma. How did it all begin?

With a minor contusion on Mayfield’s throwing hand during a mid-camp practice. He was pulled right away, and Todd Bowles called it “day-to-day,” but some around the team hinted there was already soreness building up before the hit. But the injury isn’t what’s troubling Mayfield right now. According to Bucs Wire, Kyle Trask got first-team reps in Mayfield’s absence, and the man is already turning heads.

The man hadn’t had meaningful first-team action since Mayfield inked his extension. And he wasted no time. On his very first throw, he dropped a dime to Mike Evans in stride, setting a tone that felt more Gainesville 2020 than anything we’ve seen from him in Tampa.

It wasn’t perfect, no. Trask still sailed a few throws and held the ball too long at times. But there was something different about him: confidence. As Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times put it, “He looked like a guy who believed he belonged.” It wasn’t just about footwork or progressions. It was his presence. Trask ran the huddle like a leader, kept his cool under pressure, and turned heads. Exactly what Todd Bowles loves.

It’s the kind of shift you don’t usually see unless something forces it. It was Mayfield’s hand in this case. With only rookie Connor Bazelak left to share reps, the Bucs had little choice but to let Trask take the wheel. And he capitalised. That’s meaningful in a camp where backup QBs are usually lucky to string together a few first-team snaps, let alone run the show.

So, yeah. Mayfield is expected to be back soon. Regardless of those flashes of potential from Trask, Mayfield will get those first-team reps back. But down the line? Let’s just say Trask made his case. And Mayfield’s QB1 job might not be as undisputed as we thought it would be. Because it wasn’t just the injury, the man was struggling long before that,

Baker Mayfield’s struggles kept worsening

Baker Mayfield was not the same man right before he got sidelined. He looked like a shadow of himself. “Baker Mayfield broke looks and scrambled on his own for about 20 yards, but then fumbled the ball on his own with nobody around him,” according to Pewter Report. No defender in sight. Just Baker, the ball, and a self-inflicted mess. Unusual for him.

And no, these little mishaps didn’t start this offseason. Remember that wild card weekend against Washington? Yeah, of course you do. The Bucs were flying…until that happened. On a risky jet sweep deep in their own territory, he and rookie Jalen McMillan completely misfired. The handoff was off, the ball hit the turf, and just like that, Washington pounced. Game over. Season over.

Mayfield accepted the mistake with some real accountability. “That comes back to me, just timing it up correctly,” he said after the loss. “First one all year that it happened on. So obviously the timing of it not great, being backed up. Defense had done a hell of a job getting us the ball, another fourth-down stop and yeah, unfortunate, but that falls on me.” But the front office doesn’t care about accountability.

Mayfield’s three-year, $100 million deal was supposed to lock down Tampa’s future at quarterback. On paper, it was a commitment. In reality? It’s starting to feel like a tightrope. If his hand injury lingers or his performance keeps wobbling, that contract becomes less of a safety net and more of a weight hanging over the franchise.

Kyle Trask, on the other hand? He’s on a one-year, $2.8 million deal, but if his performances keep plummeting, that could turn into a longer stay. After Friday’s practice, Todd Bowles didn’t hold back: “One of his better days … made quicker decisions, got the ball out and did some good things.” And with Baker set to return next week, he’ll get the QB1 title back. But it can all change as the season progresses.