Maybe it won’t be Kyle Trask’s job in Tampa Bay after all in the 2023 season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers reportedly are finalizing a deal with former No. 1 overall pick, Baker Mayfield, to compete for the team’s starting quarterback position.
Going from Tom Brady to Mayfield or Trask is a massive drop off, and it’s reflected in the Bucs’ odds to win the Super Bowl in the 2023 season. However, could Mayfield make them a little more competitive than originally expected?
Super Bowl 58 odds
Buccaneers’ odds to win Super Bowl 58
Right now, the Bucs are teetering on the line of a long shot to win the Super Bowl at +6500 odds.
Still, Mayfield showed some promise when he had competent coaching with the Los Angeles Rams late in the season. The former Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers quarterback struggled mightily in Matt Rhule’s offense before he was fired.
With the Rams in the 2022 campaign, Mayfield completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 850 yards, four scores and two picks across five games (four starts). The only other time he completed over 63.0 percent of his passes in his career was his rookie season with Cleveland.
This is a great buy low move by the Bucs, who are looking to stay competitive in the weak NFC South now that Brady is gone.
Mayfield will have a ton of weapons at his disposal from Mike Evans to Chris Godwin and young tight end Cade Otton. He may not be good enough to lead Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl, but the team needed just eight wins to win the division last season.
Bucs’ odds to win the NFC South
The NFC South is still extremely weak, and yet the Bucs are last at +500 to win the division this season.
With Mayfield in the fold, Tampa could be worth a sprinkle at those odds since the other quarterbacks in the division are currently Derek Carr (New Orleans) Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke (Atlanta) and whoever Carolina takes with the No. 1 pick.
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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
