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

QUESTION: Hypothetically if the Bears wanted to trade QB Justin Fields, what would it take for the Bucs to get him regarding compensation (draft picks or players)?

Ex-Bucs ILB Kevin Minter and Bears QB Justin Fields – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I’m not sure that the Bears will be trading Justin Fields to acquire another quarterback. Chicago spent the 11th overall pick on Fields two years ago and part of the reason why he hasn’t developed has been the poor starting cast around him. Yet, if the Bears did want to trade him to draft Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud with the first overall pick, we can look to Arizona’s trading of Josh Rosen as a possible comparable scenario.

The Cardinals shipped Rosen, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, to the Dolphins so Arizona could draft Kyler Murray first overall in 2019. Miami shipped a second-rounder and a fifth-rounder to Arizona for draft compensation. Fields is actually more accomplished than Rosen was, and he has a better athletic profile so he could fetch more in a trade scenario. The Bears could ask for the Bucs’ first-round pick, No. 19, and I’m not sure Fields is worth it.

While Rosen was 3-13 as a starter in both Arizona (3-10) and Miami (0-3), he only completed 54% of his passes and had just 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in those first two seasons in the league. Fields has also struggled to win (5-20 record as a starter), but has thrown for 24 TDs and 21 INTs in two seasons with Chicago. He’s not the most accurate passer from the pocket, and has completed just 59.7% of his throws.

Despite his mobility, Fields has been sacked an astounding 91 times in 27 games, including 55 times last year, which led the NFL. Fields lacks pocket awareness and has trouble going through his progressions and the Bucs saw that firsthand in 2021 when he threw three interceptions and was sacked four times by Todd Bowles’ defense in a 38-3 win by Tampa Bay.

Fields is a good running QB, and rushed for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry in 2022. But there are concerns about his accuracy and pocket presence that offset his speed and scrambling ability. Fields would be best served to be traded to a team that employs an attack similar to that of Baltimore or Philadelphia that features a running QB. I don’t think that’s in Tampa Bay, nor do I think the Bucs are interested in trading for Fields.

QUESTION: Do any QBs in the draft line up with the skill set that Dave Canales has worked with before?

ANSWER: I think most of the quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft could operate in a Dave Canales offense in Tampa Bay. Seattle’s last two quarterbacks – Geno Smith and Russell Wilson – are Pro Bowl pocket passers with some mobility. Neither Smith nor Wilson would be described as scrambling quarterbacks the way Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts would be labeled. There are several QBs who have won from the pocket in this year’s draft.

Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis are all pocket passers who could thrive in Canales’ system, assuming it’s like either Darrell Bevell’s or Shane Waldron’s offense in Seattle. Florida’s Anthony Richardson is a wild card due to his poor accuracy, having completed 53.8% of his passes with the Gators last year in his first full season as a starter.

The Bucs could draft a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft, but it’s much more likely the team will devote this season to see if Kyle Trask, a second-round pick in 2021, can develop. That doesn’t mean the Bucs won’t take a flier on a late Day 3 draft pick to see if the team can hit on a Brock Purdy or Skylar Thompson-type quarterback. Shepherd’s Tyson Bagent or TCU’s Max Duggan could be seventh-round candidates.

QUESTION: Any chance Russell Gage restructures and fits Dave Canales’ system?

Bucs WR Russell Gage – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The Bucs were frustrated with Russell Gage’s first season in Tampa Bay. The team made a mistake by signing him to such a lucrative contract – $30 million over three years – and did not see much of a return on its investment. While he did catch five touchdowns, which was a personal best, he only caught 51 passes for 426 yards and a woeful 8.4 average.

What made the Bucs want to sign Gage in the first place was his ability to separate, but that was negated all season by a hamstring injury that robbed him of his quickness. Gage frustrated the team with his rehab process and I think the Bucs are eyeing the $2,833,332 worth of salary cap space the team can create with his release. I don’t think a restructuring is in Tampa Bay’s interest. Gage would have to agree to take a substantial pay cut instead, as he’s not worth $10 million per year.

The Bucs have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin under contract this year, in addition to Gage and former undrafted free agents Deven Thompkins and Kaylon Geiger. Julio Jones, Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman are all free agents and unlikely to return. It’s a safe bet that the Bucs will draft a receiver or two this year to restock the position, especially if Gage is released.

QUESTION: When do you think there will be a press conference for our new offensive coordinator Dave Canales? Would love to hear about his offensive philosophy and why he chose to leave Seattle and join our Bucs.

ANSWER: The Bucs have said they’ll make new offensive coordinator Dave Canales available to the media later this week after he has a chance to settle in. I think we’re all anxious to hear what type of offense he’ll run in Tampa Bay. He’s been exposed to multiple systems in Seattle under Jeremy Bates, Brian Schottenheimer, Darrell Bevell and Shane Waldron. The Bucs are expecting a pass-first approach with a much better job of marrying the running game into the game plan with a much more efficient result.

The reason why he left the Seahawks is simple: he wants to be an offensive coordinator. After spending over a dozen years as an assistant coach coaching wide receivers and quarterbacks in Seattle, Canales believes he’s ready to step into the play-calling role in Tampa Bay.

Canales wasn’t the Bucs’ first choice, and Tampa Bay did struggle to find an offensive coordinator who wanted to come in with just one quarterback – Kyle Trask – under contract. But that doesn’t mean that Canales won’t end up being the best choice after all. We’ll see how the hiring plays out over the course of the 2023 season.

QUESTION: I may be in the minority, but I think we’ve never really given Kyle Trask a chance. He’s played in the preseason and garbage time, but we’ve never seen him play with the first string. Do we really know what he can do under those conditions?

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Kyle Trask certainly hasn’t had the chance to start in Tampa Bay, but that was never going to happen as long as Tom Brady was still on the roster. And no, Trask has not had the opportunity to throw to the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in any preseason game or in his brief stint in the regular season. He’s only done that in practice in front of the coaches and scouts – not in front of the media during the regular season, as we only get limited time to view practice in-season.

At the same time, Trask has had limited opportunities in training camp and the preseason to show what he could do to warrant more playing time. And he hasn’t taken advantage of that. Trask had a chance to make a run at the No. 2 QB job last year but he couldn’t beat out backup Blaine Gabbert in training camp and the preseason. It wasn’t really that close.

And then, when Trask was inserted into a regular season game for the first time, he completed just 2-of-9 passes for 23 yards. Granted, he didn’t have great protection and was throwing to backup receivers, but Trask just hasn’t given the team a glimmer of hope with a commanding performance yet. In two preseasons, he’s thrown just two touchdowns and four interceptions while being sacked 10 times.

The 2023 season will be a make-or-break season for Kyle Trask. The Bucs will bring in a veteran free agent to likely start the season, as well as another veteran to compete for the backup job – perhaps Seattle’s Drew Lock. But the team hopes that Trask can at least compete well enough to earn the backup job in training camp and then challenge for the starting job during the season.

QUESTION: If we get rid of Donovan Smith do you think we lean towards taking a tackle in the first round of this year’s draft?

Bucs LT Donovan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Bucs general manager Jason Licht has always prioritized the offensive line since he took over the team in 2014. In the last decade, Licht has spent a first-rounder on Tristan Wirfs, second-round picks on Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet and Luke Goedeke, and third-rounders on Alex Cappa and Robert Hainsey.

If Smith were to be traded or released in a cap casualty maneuver, the Bucs could definitely use a premium pick on another offensive tackle. That doesn’t necessarily mean in the first round because the Bucs have plenty of needs that must be addressed in this year’s draft, but it certainly can’t be ruled out.

The most likely offensive tackles who will be taken in the first round include Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. and Northwerstern’s Peter Skoronski, while Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison and Georgia’s Broderick Jones have a chance. It’s not a great offensive tackle class, but that doesn’t mean the Bucs can’t find one, and Tampa Bay certainly needs one this year. Not only would the Bucs have to replace Smith, but long-time backup Josh Wells is a free agent and will miss at least half the year recovering from a severe knee injury he suffered at the end of the 2022 season.

If Smith is traded or released, the Bucs could move Wirfs to left tackle and insert Godeke at right tackle where he played quite well in Week 18 of his rookie season. Goedeke played right tackle at Central Michigan before a failed move to left guard in his first year in the NFL. With Goedeke being a second-round selection, the Bucs want to start him somewhere on the line to get good value from that pick.

I’ve done some probing around the league and it seems like Smith’s trade value isn’t high at all after a really bad season in 2022. In fact, Smith’s career was full of ups and downs prior to the Super Bowl run late in the 2020 season and a spectacular 2021 campaign. But the 2021 season seems like the outlier – not the norm – given how poorly he played in 2022. I’ve heard the highest pick the Bucs might fetch for Smith would be a fourth-rounder, but a fifth- or sixth-rounder seems more likely – if there is any trade market for him at all.