The Tampa Bay Buccaneers still need a third quarterback for the practice squad, and the most familiar answer might be the one that fits best.
After trimming their roster to 53 players, Tampa Bay moved Jalon Daniels into the backup role and released Jake Browning. Browning has since declined to come back to the practice squad as the team’s QB3, leaving the Buccaneers to keep searching for depth behind the new backup setup.
One internal possibility is Connor Bazelak, who handled the QB3 job in 2025 and spent this offseason in Tampa Bay. But if the Buccaneers decide to look outside the building, Kyle Trask stands out as a logical name.
Trask was a second-round pick by Tampa Bay in the 2021 NFL Draft and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Buccaneers. His game appearances were limited to seven, and they came almost entirely in garbage time.
He finished 4-of-11 passing for 28 yards. Those numbers don’t jump off the page, but that’s not really the assignment for a QB3 anyway.
What Tampa Bay would be buying is familiarity, stability and another voice in the quarterback room. A third quarterback on the practice squad is there to help with depth, bring a veteran perspective and work scout-team reps in practice.
There’s also a system connection that makes Trask more appealing. After the Buccaneers moved on from him last offseason, he landed with the Atlanta Falcons, where Zac Robinson was the offensive coordinator at the time. Robinson is now Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, which gives Trask a built-in familiarity with the scheme.
That matters even more because Trask already knows several members of the Buccaneers’ offense from years of practice work together. That shared background could make the transition smooth if Tampa Bay wants a quarterback who can step into the role without much ramp-up time.
The Bucs are set to carry an inexperienced rookie as the backup quarterback, so it would make sense for them to want a more seasoned option as QB3. Bazelak is still in the mix, but Trask brings the same system knowledge and more NFL experience.
Trask is currently back on the market after being cut by the Carolina Panthers, and a return to Tampa Bay could be the cleanest fit of all.
In Other News...
Bucs Settle Quarterback Depth Question With Late Veteran Addition
The Buccaneers added another layer to their quarterback room late in the week, signing veteran Easton Stick to the practice squad as a depth move behind Baker Mayfield and Jalon Daniels. Stick, a North Dakota State product and former fifth-round pick, brings NFL experience from stints with the Chargers and Falcons, and he arrives with a familiar face in the building thanks to his prior working relationship with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
It is the kind of quiet roster move teams make when they want to settle a question before it becomes a larger one, especially at quarterback. Tampa Bay had been exploring its options after Jake Browning declined a practice squad offer, and Stick now gives the Bucs an experienced fallback as they continue sorting out the backup picture behind their top two passers. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Final Roster Cuts Included A Few Notable Veteran Decisions
The Buccaneers have trimmed their roster down to 53 as the regular season approaches, and the final wave of cuts included a few names that stood out beyond the usual end-of-August churn. Tampa Bay released quarterback Jake Browning and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu as part of a broader set of moves, while also waiving several other players who could still circle back if they clear waivers and land on the practice squad.
The roster picture is not fully settled yet, though. The Buccaneers also placed two players on injured reserve with designations to return, and now the attention shifts to assembling the practice squad once the waived players pass through waivers. For a team trying to preserve depth and keep familiar pieces close, the next day or two should reveal how much of this group stays in the building. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Just Created A Strange New Waiting Game With Jack Pyburn
The Buccaneers made one of the more curious moves of their roster-cutdown period by waiving undrafted rookie linebacker Jack Pyburn before the final deadline. Pyburn had stood out in the preseason, finishing with the most sacks on the team, which made his status worth watching as Tampa Bay worked through the last wave of decisions. Instead, his future now shifts to the waiver process, where every team gets a look before the next chapter begins.
Pyburns next step is unusual enough to make this more than a standard roster note. Because of an ongoing legal challenge to NCAA eligibility rules for players with professional experience, there is at least a path for him to potentially return to college football at LSU. LSU and other players are involved in that litigation, and preliminary injunction hearings are scheduled, leaving Pyburn in a waiting game that stretches beyond the NFL waiver wire and into a broader eligibility fight. [Read more 🡒]