As the Bucs venture into life after Tom Brady, Jason Licht and Bruce Arians begin the search for his replacement. Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Licht said they will continue to look to improve the roster and find the team’s next starting quarterback.

That includes looking behind door number two, but added they are encouraged by the development of Kyle Trask, the team’s second-round pick from a year ago.

“We feel like we’re very excited about the development of Kyle,” Licht said. “Where he’s come from in the last year and what he’s done. Just being able to sit behind Tom and Blaine [Gabbert] and Ryan [Griffin] in that room with Clyde [Christensen] and Tom Moore and B.A.”

Bucs QBs Tom Brady and Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs drafted Trask to develop behind the scenes with the luxury of not having to start him right away. Licht knew Brady had at most two more years to give Tampa Bay the opportunity to draft and develop a young QB. It might not lead to the former Gators star being named the starting quarterback for the 2022 season, but the time he spent learning from Brady was invaluable.

“I don’t necessarily think we need to speed up the process with Kyle because I think we have him on a good track right now,” Licht said. “He’s been well coached, and he’s had unbelievable resources to lean on to get to where he is right now. But we’ll see where that goes. We don’t want to rush anybody. But I couldn’t think of a better experience for a young quarterback than to spend his rookie year with the greatest quarterback of all time.”

With a draft pick invested in Trask and four years of development invested in Gabbert dating back to Arizona, the Bucs have a few in-house options at quarterback. Gabbert is a free agent, but could be re-signed and given the opportunity to start. But Licht did not rule out pursuing a veteran quarterback from outside the organization, either.

Licht spoke highly of Trask and said that he compares very favorably to the QBs in this year’s draft class.

“We’re not crowning Kyle as the heir apparent yet,” Licht said. “But we feel very fortunate that we got him when we did last year. Where he stacks up with quarterbacks in this year’s draft, everybody’s going to have their own opinion, but we feel pretty good where he stacks up with these quarterbacks. I feel like we made a good decision last year.”

One thing Licht harped on was the existing talent that the team has and it’s veteran leadership. Brady and Arians established a winning culture for Tampa Bay that will continue with the team’s returning players. The team has a veteran group led by some tenured Bucs who have seen the franchise’s best and worst days. That leadership will go a long way to help whoever succeeds Brady at quarterback.

“Whether you hand it over to an inexperienced guy or a veteran, I think the leaders we have on this team, Lavonte [David] being one, will help and bring this person along whoever it is,” Licht said.