Team no. 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Going from Tom Brady to an unknown future with either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask at the helm is just scary. Mayfield will likely win the starting job but this is his fourth team in five years. This may be Mayfield’s last chance to start and will begin his career as a journeyman backup quarterback. A far drop from being the first pick overall in the draft.
The Buccaneers will be able to field a competent defense in 2023 and their offense still has a variety of weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The issue is the quarterback position is quite unstable at the moment in Tampa. Mayfield threw 8 touchdowns with 8 interceptions in his stints with the Rams and Panthers and Trask has thrown three completions in the NFL. If Mayfield goes down things could get scary, and they could very well be scary with Mayfield starting. This simple clip hasn’t helped their case either.
Checking in on the Bucs' QB competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/8kZQzEbdsp
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) May 30, 2023
Todd Bowles unfortunately made our list of head coaches that could be fired in 2023. If Bowles is fired the regime will want to pair their new head coach with a new quarterback as well. Even if Bowles is not fired the Buccaneers will probably struggle in 2023 and a new quarterback and the promise of a new start could help keep Bowles in place.
Either way, the Buccaneers starting quarterback in 2023 will not be Mayfield or Trask. Looks for the Bucs to make a splash in the draft in 2024 with the other four teams on this list.