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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: With Baker Mayfield inking his new deal and Kyle Trask’s contract expiring after this season with a very small dead cap charge ($346k), do the Bucs look at other backup QB options or does the staff feel Trask is serviceable and may look to tack on a year or two at the veteran minimum?

Bucs QBs Kyle Trask and John Wolford – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: That’s a very good question and one I’m not sure the Bucs even know the answer to just yet. Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht has become a very patient G.M., evidenced by several one-year, prove-it deals over the past few seasons. He’s also been content to let superstars like wide receiver Mike Evans and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. play out their contract years and let those players cash in after fantastic seasons. I think the same thing goes for backup quarterback Kyle Trask as he heads into his contract year.

On a recent episode of the Pewter Report Podcast, Licht told Pewter Report that he still likes Trask quite a bit despite him taking just a handful of meaningful snaps in the regular season due to the excellent health of former starting quarterback Tom Brady and current starter Baker Mayfield. Trask has made strides behind the scenes, but couldn’t beat out Mayfield for the starting job last August. He’s still a relative unknown, and because of that, he likely won’t have much of a market next March.

Licht did say the Bucs would like to keep Trask as the organization has spent the last three years developing him to be a potential future starter and possible successor to Mayfield down the road. Whether or not Trask is worthy of becoming an NFL-caliber starter remains to be seen. And that’s why Licht isn’t going to stop looking for an upgrade at the backup QB spot. It’s just that good quarterbacks don’t grow on trees.

Tampa Bay likes third-stringer John Wolford, who has even more value now that he’s played in Liam Coen’s offense before with his days with the Rams in Los Angeles. And Licht nearly drafted Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt in the seventh round before Green Bay selected him one spot ahead of Tampa Bay. So while the Bucs have an interest in retaining Trask past 2024, they will see how things unfold this season and if he gets any playing time due to a Mayfield injury. I could certainly see Trask get a cheap, one-year deal to stay with the Bucs if there is a soft market out there for him in free agency.

QUESTION: What does the LB situation look like? Lavonte David is set, but who’ll be No. 2? And what’s the plan with SirVocea Dennis?

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Legendary linebacker Lavonte David is back with the Bucs for at least one more year at age 34. He’s the only linebacker on the team with a lot of experience on defense. K.J. Britt enters a contract year after he unseated Devin White as the team’s starting middle linebacker at the end of last season. He’s gotten some rave reviews from the coaching staff and his teammates this offseason, and with four years of experience in Todd Bowles’ scheme, Britt is the front-runner to win the Mike linebacker job.

But there will be competition for the right to replace White, and Britt will need to fend off SirVocea Dennis, last year’s fifth-round pick, and J.J. Russell, who looked great in his lone start against Carolina last year when he had seven tackles and a sack. Britt is known as a downhill thumper and proved to be better against the run than White due to his ability to shed would-be blockers and be assignment sound. He needs to improve in coverage, specifically with his eyes and reading how routes develop so he doesn’t pull the trigger too early while defending the middle of the field in zone.

Remember that Bowles platooned White and Britt at the end of the season with Britt playing on likely run downs and White coming on for third-and-long situations and other obvious passing downs because he was better in coverage. He wouldn’t be opposed to doing that again if Dennis or Russell proved to be better in pass coverage than Britt. And don’t rule out undrafted free agent Kalen DeLoach from being a factor, too. He has speed and the ability to blitz, cover and tackle.

As for Dennis, if he keeps progressing, he could wind up as a future starter – either this year if he beats out Britt for the Mike linebacker role, or next year at the Mo linebacker spot if David retires. Dennis is probably more suited for the weakside Moneybacker (Mo) role, but has been cross-trained to play both Mike and Mo so that he could compete with Britt to start next to David.

QUESTION: I think cornerback is the weakest link on this team. What is the weakest link in your opinion?

Bucs G Sua Opeta – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

ANSWER: I’ve been asked this before and I still think the left guard position could be the weak link if veterans Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson don’t offer an upgrade over last year’s tandem of Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie. Opeta and Bredeson have some starting experience in their respective careers, but came incredibly cheap in free agency and that’s not usually the sign that a team has an incredible amount of faith in a player.

Opeta signed a one-year deal worth $1.125 million with a $250,000 bonus. Bredeson was slightly more expensive with a one-year deal worth $1.660 million in base salary with a $1 million roster bonus and another $340,000 in per game bonus money. The other player in the mix is sixth-round pick Elijah Klein, who has a $795,000 base salary and a $34,000 signing bonus. We’ll see how left guard pans out, but that’s my pick for the potential weak link right now.

As for cornerback, I think the Bucs have some really good players atop the depth chart. I expect Jamel Dean to have a bounce-back year after seeing his buddy Carlton Davis III get traded away in a contract year due to the fact that he’s oft-injured and drops too many interceptions. Dean dropped five potential picks last year and didn’t record a single INT. He also missed time due to a few injuries. The pressure is on Dean this season, but I think he responds and rises to the occasion.

Zyon McCollum is an exceptional athlete and made huge strides last year when he actually played more snaps than either Dean or Davis. What he has to do now is be more aggressive in coverage and go for more picks rather than settle for safer pass breakups. Hopefully he’s using the OTA practice time to take more chances so he’ll get used to having more of a ball-hawking mentality when it comes time for game days.

Cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross calls Bryce Hall a starting-caliber corner and I think he can step in if either Dean or McCollum gets injured or falters without Todd Bowles’ defense missing a beat. It’s after Hall where the cornerback position is a weakness due to the lack of experience. Right now Josh Hayes, who was an exceptional gunner as a rookie, might be CB4 and he only played a handful of snaps on defense last year. Hopefully the Bucs won’t be position where they’ll have to go that deep on their depth chart this year.

QUESTION: Seems like the only remaining roster to-dos before the season starts are extending Tristan Wirfs and signing remaining draft picks. Any other roster moves or are we set for the season to start?

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Bucs general manager Jason Licht and his staff of scouts are always poring over rosters and watching film. There will be another round of roster cuts after training camp. Tampa Bay has made a few notable additions at that time, including claiming defensive end Jacquies Smith off waivers in 2014, claiming edge rusher Carl Nassib off waivers in 2018 and signing running back Leonard Fournette in 2020 right before the start of the season after he was released by Jacksonville.

But until then, I believe signing Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs to a hefty contract extension as well as the rest of the draft picks is where assistant general manager Mike Greenberg is focused right now. That doesn’t mean that Licht and head coach Todd Bowles won’t continue to tinker with their roster with a few moves, such as waiving Deven Thompkins last week.

Yet it seems like Tampa Bay’s roster is pretty much set for training camp. Expect an outside addition or two in late August or early September once other teams making their training camp cuts, but that might be it for now.

QUESTION: I saw that mandatory mini-camp is next week. Will the pads come on at all? Can you explain the difference between the OTAs period and the mini-camp?

ANSWER: There really isn’t much difference between OTAs, which are organized team activities, and mini-camp outside of the fact that mini-camp is mandatory. Players who aren’t excused from mandatory mini-camp can be subjected to fines by the team if they don’t show up. Otherwise, it’s just three more days of flag football or underwear football or whatever you want to call it. No pads – just helmets, cleats, jerseys and shorts.

In fact, the first three days of training camp are essentially three more OTAs. Pads don’t come on until the fourth day of camp after a “ramp-up” time of practices that are more conditioning based – again in helmets, jerseys, shorts and cleats. So that’s really it. The NFL actually spends a lot of practice time not in pads, which is a far cry of how it used to be in the league.