“Fuc*’n Kyle Trask”
February 26th, 2026
One reason Joe mingles around the NFL Scouting Combine scene is the opportunity to talk to coaches and executives across the league in a more relaxed setting.
Sometimes that leads to a nugget of Bucs history.
Yesterday, Joe ran into someone with direct knowledge of the Buccaneers interviewing for their vacant offensive coordinator position in 2023, the year Byron Leftwich was fired before the season and Dave Canales eventually got the gig.
Joe did not utter the name “Kyle Trask” to this man, but the man explained to Joe with colorful language that the job was highly undesirable because the Bucs had “fuc*’n Kyle Trask” and no other quarterback on the roster. He said the Bucs, at the time, also wanted Trask to get a shot. The source explained to Joe that mulitple coordinator candidates turned down the job.
Joe was intrigued. How might Bucs history have changed, good or bad, if an offer never made its way to Canales? Heck, Panthers history would be different, too.
Trask is without a team as of now. He was a member of the Falcons practice squad last season, which means he was coached by new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who spoke glowingly to Joe about Trask in January.
Five years after Trask was drafted, it’s still a mystery whether he can be a starting quarterback. He’s yet to get that chance.
February 26th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Christian Hackenberg 2.0
February 26th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
Trask was drafted by Licht in the second round.
Licht is just God awful at picking QB’s.
Only way to get a franchise type guy is to fire the GM.
Just like Bowles on defense. They will never change.
And the Glazers are also at fault for telling these guys they are on the right track.
Enough about the Brady led SB six years ago.
Without TB12 none of it happens.
February 26th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
Yep and only the Raiders would trade for that guy!!
February 26th, 2026 at 12:39 pm
who?
February 26th, 2026 at 12:41 pm
There is the same mystery if I could be starting quarterback as well because I never got the chance you are such a troll joe 😂
February 26th, 2026 at 12:44 pm
Why was he not here when heeded to spell the hurt Bakefield.
February 26th, 2026 at 12:48 pm
Seems like Arians had his hands all over the organization long after he was out as HC. Think of what the Bucs could’ve had in the second round that year, and then this??
February 26th, 2026 at 1:00 pm
Grizzard didn’t want him. And Joe is *very* confident (ahem) at least one receiver didn’t want him either.
(John Spytek and Tom Brady — who both know Trask intimately — didn’t want him either.)
February 26th, 2026 at 1:02 pm
The question has already been answered, NO HE CAN’T. Heck I want to be a starting QB but have never been given a chance, For a reason. Which is the same reason for Trask.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:03 pm
I’m a Gator. And it’s not a mystery. He can’t.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:03 pm
One thing is for certain, Trask would have been better than Teddy ‘Hospital Ball’ Bridgewater. Not idea what Trask did to Bowles.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:06 pm
BTW, I see AR-15 is available.
I’d send a late round pick to see if there’s anything there. As a back-up — and only a back-up easily triggered Baker Boi(s) — I’d be interested to see what he could do in a more modern offense. The guy is super inaccurate, but man can he run – he’d be your goal line back in fact, and I mean that legitimately, he’d be a great asset there. That would be worth a 6th or 7th round pick in my mind, and I doubt Indy gets much more than that.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:08 pm
How many times do we read about a guy told no he cant play, only to find out he can when he gets the chance. But it has to be organic.
I believe in Kyle, so find somebody else doesn’t. Keep playing the cards.
As far as this article. Whatever idiot passed on the job because of trask is not now a hc like 2 other guys that didn’t, and the one that got rid of trask lost his job.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:13 pm
Fuc#n Teddy Bongwater. Licht and Bowles need to take the Back up qb seriously and go After Marriota or Pickens or some body decent. No more Gator favorites or friends of Todd.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Rod munch no talk of automatic as tic weapons on this board. Besides it is AR16 now.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:23 pm
Trask is better than Browning Nagle but half the QB Bears’ legend Mike Glennon was. Watch the Bears sign him after they trade away Tyson Bagent to someone who will give him a chance to win a starting job. After Mendoza and Willis he is the third most desired unattached young QB among teams like the Dolphins and Cardinals.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:26 pm
Joe doesn’t have 1 on 1s with Executives or coaches. Cmon man. Listen in with the rest of the media in a group Q & A.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:29 pm
Funny don’t hear anything bad about Bridgewater who was brought in to replace Trask
Bridgewater wasn’t good when he was in The NFL before
He was on the coach coaching a HS
And what did he do when he came here
Destroyed McMillian in a Preseason game with a horrible pass
February 26th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Lynchmob on the pipe again spewing nonsense again. This is the same guy who says Jason was the GM in 2000 and has never drafted a pro bowler. Biggest 🤡
February 26th, 2026 at 1:37 pm
Rod Munch Says: “BTW, I see AR-15 is available.”
Damn. I was hoping Indy would be forced to have to play him, and then Steichen gets fired. That way the Bucs could possibly snag him. Or, at least be a potential option on a very short list. They’ve all done AR-15 a disservice, by insisting that he’s a Quarterback. And, by drafting him so high. It was a total 💯 ALL “Irsay-Decision,” that ended up SCREWING Steichen Over. Now, the daughters (LoL) are in-charge and they don’t have a clue. I don’t believe they like Steichen either, but hell, he’s never had a chance. AR-15 CAN’T PLAY. I said-it when he was at Florida. He’s NOT a QB. Look, I get-it… He can sling-it 90-YARDS, with a ‘flick of his wrist’ standing from probably just ONE KNEE. But, he didn’t have the basic fundamentals or the right mindset for a QB. I always said, that he should be moved to TE or even WR. He is a TOTAL FREAK. But, hell, he probably can’t catch LoL. It’s such a shame to see such a TALENT go to waste. I’d give-up 6th or 7th, too! It’s just too tempting not to. But, no. Wait a minute… No, I wouldn’t. Cause, that could hurt our chances of landing Steichen next offseason Hahah. Or, is this going to be his 5th-year, already!?
February 26th, 2026 at 1:38 pm
Trask will resign as the backup. And in the process the only Bucs QB in history to earn a 3rd contract
February 26th, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Joe. That’s a lazy take Trask never got a chance and you know it you guys have talked about that before and even admitted yourself. He was better than Baker Mayfield in training camp 2023 and you know it . I kept up with your stats at the time Baker had 9 picks to Kyle Trask 2 with the starters . But Baker sales tickets and that’s why they chose Baker Mayfield and look now Baker Mayfield is 1-9 in prime time games and he’s choked in every big game when the game was in his hands. People wanted Kyle Trask to start because of what happened in that training camp not because he went to UF. But Bowles ain’t bringing him here because he’s a threat to Baker Mayfield. And Bowles is the type of coach he plays players base on how he feels about them personally. He drafted Morrison because he’s friends with his dad and he played with his dad. A cornerback coming off a hip surgery he drafted in the second round and now look he brought his son in to coach. Lol 🤣🤣
February 26th, 2026 at 2:22 pm
Shortest NCL coaching career in history=Todd Bowels son=1 year!
February 26th, 2026 at 2:24 pm
I wonder how the “multiple coordinators” who turned down the job because of Trask felt after Mayfield was signed. Christmas came early for Canales. Conversely, I wonder how the Bucs would have fared without Canales and Coen. (Yes, I know Joe deliberately excluded this from his essay, but it’s still interesting to ponder.)