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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: When do you think the Bucs creamsicle game will be this year?

Bucs DTs Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: That’s a great question. Although the Bucs haven’t officially confirmed that there will be a creamsicle game this year, the team has done a recent photo shoot with several star players in the orange and white throwback uniforms that seems to indicate it will happen. There are nine games on the Bucs’ home schedule this year, but it certainly doesn’t seem like Tampa Bay will wear anything other than white jerseys and white pants for their first three home games this year, which are all in the hot month of September.

The Bucs’ next home game will be on Monday Night Football against Baltimore on October 21. Because season tickets aren’t sold out, the Bucs will want to use the creamsicle game as a separate draw than the team’s lone home prime time game. While it would be cool to see the Bucco Bruce helmets and orange jerseys in prime time before a national audience against the Ravens, that’s unlikely to happen.

The Bucs have two more home games before the bye week – versus the Falcons on October 27 and against the 49ers on November 10. Either game could be a viable option, but both contests should be decent draws for fans just based on the opponents alone. The next home game is December 8 versus the Raiders, and if I had to guess, that would be creamsicle game. Las Vegas won’t draw many fans, so the ticket office could use the boost of the cool, once-per-year throwback game to help pack Raymond James Stadium.

Plus, the Raiders have a pirate on the side of their silver helmets. Wouldn’t it be cool to see a pirate clash with Bucco Bruce on the Bucs helmets? I’m not sure Tampa Bay would wait until the last two weeks of the regular season when the team plays Carolina and New Orleans to host the throwback game.

QUESTION: Doesn’t it seem like a risk to put Graham Barton, a rookie, at center when that wasn’t his main position in college? He’ll have to make line calls, do shotgun snaps and regular snap. Remember, Ali Marpet struggled at center in 2017 and the team moved him back to guard the next year. With Baker Mayfield’s health at stake, the sure thing seems to be playing Barton at guard where there is a big need.

Bucs C Graham Barton and RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: You are correct that center wasn’t necessarily the best position for Ali Marpet during that 2017 season. Marpet proved to be a better guard, and of course the team signed Ryan Jensen to play center the next year in 2018. But Barton did start five games at center at Duke during his freshman season, so he has proven that he can handle the responsibilities of snapping and making the line calls, especially at such an early age.

He also enters the NFL as the most athletic center since 1987, according to Kent Lee Platte’s RAS (Relative Athletic Score) system. Combine Barton’s elite athleticism and his high football I.Q. from playing at Duke and I’m not going to say that he can’t handle being a starting center as a rookie until he shows me he can’t.

When the Bucs drafted Barton in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, I immediately thought he would be the team’s starting left guard, especially with Robert Hainsey entering a pivotal contract year this season. But center is a more important position because he touches the ball on every play and is responsible for setting the protection across the offensive line. So putting the team’s first-round pick there makes more sense.

Tampa Bay seems content on heading into training camp with Barton competing with Hainsey at center and having veteran newcomers Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson duke it out for the chance to start at left guard. Things could change in camp, especially if Barton can’t handle the center position for some reason. But I believe in him as a person and a player and I think he has the chance to be a really special lineman in Tampa Bay and eventually a Pro Bowl center.

QUESTION: What is your take on Tom Brady essentially “forgetting” or “dismissing” he ever played for the Bucs lately? As a Bucs fan since 1990 it was an amazing and magical time while he was here and knew it was for a short time. But I feel a bit like a jilted lover, especially now that Rob Gronkowski says he wants to be involved with the Bucs and the community.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I know that Tom Brady didn’t really acknowledge the Bucs in his roast on Netflix last month nor did he mention Tampa Bay when he was inducted into the Patriots Ring of Honor last week. That certainly didn’t surprise me. He spent his first 20 years in New England and when he was being inducted into the Patriots Ring of Honor, it would have seemed out of place had he mentioned leaving the franchise to go win a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2020.

Brady will be inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor – perhaps as early as this year as he will undoubtedly call at least one Bucs game as Fox’s top commentator. My guess is the Bucs vs. 49ers game on November 10. When Brady has his day in Tampa Bay and his name permanently affixed to Raymond James Stadium, he’s not going to mention the Patriots – nor should he. Instead, Brady will focus on his three years with the Bucs and all he accomplished in red and pewter.

Should Patriots fans get upset over that? No. So why should Bucs fans be upset when Brady focuses more on the six Super Bowls he won in New England – the place that actually made him a sports icon? They shouldn’t, in my opinion.

As for Rob Gronkowski, he’s decided to plant some roots in the Tampa area. He, like many former Bucs players, fell in love with the area and maintains a residence here. But Brady is a different person than Gronk. I believe Brady owns a condo in Miami, but only rented in Tampa during his three years with the Bucs.

QUESTION: When do you think the Bucs will draft the next franchise QB?

Bucs QBs Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Has Tampa Bay ever truly drafted a franchise quarterback? The team has spent several first-round picks on quarterbacks in nearly 50 years of existence, beginning with Doug Williams in 1977 and then Vinny Testaverde a decade later. Trent Dilfer was the Bucs’ first-round pick in 1993 and Tampa Bay tried again with Josh Freeman in 2009 and Jameis Winston in 2015. None signed a second contract with the team.

The truth is that the Bucs have had far better luck with signing veteran free agent quarterbacks. Look no further than Brad Johnson leading the Bucs to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002 and Tom Brady winning Super Bowl LV MVP honors as Tampa Bay won its second-ever championship in 2020. Brian Griese and Jeff Garcia helped the Bucs win division titles in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and Baker Mayfield did the same thing last season in his first year in Tampa Bay.

With Mayfield re-signing with the Bucs for three more years, it seems unlikely that the team will spend a first-round pick on a quarterback anytime soon. But Jason Licht did draft Kyle Trask in the second round in 2021, so don’t put it past him for using a Day 2 pick on a potential future replacement for Mayfield in the coming years.

And depending on how Trask fares in Liam Coen’s new offensive system in training camp and the preseason, there is a chance the Bucs re-sign him to a cheap, short-term deal. If that happens, Trask would become the first quarterback in franchise history to be drafted by the Bucs and then re-sign with the team. Licht has gone on record saying that he hopes the Bucs can keep Trask, who is slated for free agency in 2025, with the team as Mayfield’s backup and potential heir apparent.

QUESTION: Which position group is overloaded with good talent on the Bucs training camp roster?

Bucs WRs Trey Palmer, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I answered this question in last Friday’s SR’s Fab 5 column. I think there are two really stacked positions in Tampa Bay this year – one on offense and one on defense.

On offense, it’s the wide receiver position. It’s top heavy in terms of experience with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who are the only NFL duo to post 1,000 yards apiece in each of the last three years. But after Evans and Godwin there is quite a bit of talent – albeit young. Trey Palmer was WR3 last year and has made huge strides this offseason. He’ll compete with third-round pick Jalen McMillan for the right to retain that role in 2024. In terms of sheer talent, that’s as good as any No. 1 – No. 4 wide receiver depth chart as there is across the league.

Because Liam Coen will deploy three-receiver sets this year with regularity, Tampa Bay likely keeps six wide receivers. Rakim Jarrett is the front-runner to keep a roster spot, and undrafted free agent Kameron Johnson has generated quite the buzz this offseason. Throw in veteran newcomer Sterling Shepard, who is not a lock to make the team, and the Bucs are legitimately seven deep at wide receiver. And if Ryan Miller, a practice squad receiver last year, keeps flashing, Tampa Bay could be eight deep at receiver.

On the defensive side, the outside linebacker position is absolutely stacked with talent. Yaya Diaby, last year’s leading sacker, is a surefire starter, and the Bucs have a pair of veterans in contract years in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson. JTS will battle Chris Braswell, the team’s second-round pick, for the right to fill Shaq Barrett’s void and start opposite Diaby. And don’t sleep on Markees Watts or Jose Ramirez, either.

Who knows if Randy Gregory, who signed with the Bucs in April, will show up to camp or if he’ll remain AWOL and ultimately be released. But if he is still on the team come training camp, he’s at least a veteran competitor and someone who could provide insurance in case there was a major injury at outside linebacker. Whether Gregory arrives in camp or not, he’s not assured of making the 53-man roster. Personally, I would move on from him right now since he skipped the entire offseason, and said so in a recent Pewter Pulse video.