Just days after re-signing Ryan Griffin, the Bucs have re-signed another veteran quarterback. Blaine Gabbert, who has served as Tom Brady’s backup the last two years, has returned to Tampa Bay on a one-year deal.

The Bucs will carry four quarterbacks into training camp, and Gabbert’s re-signing likely means the team is done at the QB position. Any possible interest the team had in acquiring former Browns starter Baker Mayfield has likely come and gone.

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

While Griffin could likely have a role as the emergency veteran QB on the practice squad again, Gabbert, 32, will battle Kyle Trask, last year’s second-round pick, for the right to be Brady’s backup. Former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians is equally high on Gabbert and Trask and spoke about both this offseason.

“I’m really, really impressed with the things he needed to improve on,” Arians said. “ His running of the scout team, movement in the pocket and all the little things on and off the field.”

Trask was essentially the fourth-string QB last year and didn’t get many snaps in practice as a developmental prospect. When it looked like Brady wasn’t going to be an option due to his sudden retirement this offseason, Arians seemed ready to have Trask and Gabbert compete for the right to start.

“He can throw it, it’s a matter of does he turn it over?” Arians said about Trask. “It’s the same thing with Blaine. Does he turn it over? He’ll get a great opportunity.”

When Arians broke the news to NBC Sports’ Peter King and Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times about his own retirement from coaching, he praised Gabbert. Arians said Gabbert would have been the likely starter if Brady hadn’t ended his retirement after 40 days.

“Part of me was excited to coach Blaine Gabbert as the quarterback and prove to everybody, ‘Kiss my ass. He’s good,’” Arians said.

Gabbert’s Primary Role Is To Help Brady

Gabbert has the most experience of any of the Bucs quarterbacks in Arians’ system, dating back to the 2017 season in Arizona. Bucs quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen told Pewter Report that Gabbert’s experience was invaluable to Brady during his first year in Tampa Bay in 2020.

Bucs QBs Blaine Gabbert and Tom Brady and QBs coach Clyde Christensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I don’t think anyone will realize how much Blaine helped Tom, especially in the Super Bowl run,” Christensen said. “Griff (Ryan Griffin) and Blaine really teamed up with Tom and helped merge everything. They did more work than anyone will ever realize and making that call sheet work for everybody. For him to dig in and have that big of a role in terms of how everyone sees a game plan and how everyone sees a call sheet helps him. It’s the whys – here’s why Tom likes this route, here’s why Tom is going to call versus Quarters coverage, or what Tom does against the blitz.

“He’s had a front-row seat, but it’s even more than that because he’s a part of it. He’s part of developing the game plan. He is part of getting the calls on the sheet. He’s part of executing, critiquing and tweaking it. That has made him a better quarterback already and kept him involved. Blaine’s not a backup quarterback. He’s an assistant quarterback coach. He is an extra set of eyes for Tom. He’s the coordinator’s helper. He is all of those things.”

Over the past two seasons, Gabbert, a former first-round pick of Jacksonville in 2011, has completed 16-of-27 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns in reserve duty behind Brady. The Bucs were undefeated in all six games Gabbert saw action in during the 2021 regular season.