Bucs general manager Jason Licht has a reputation for quickly shedding personnel mistakes and moving on. But to this day he holds firm in his belief that drafting quarterback Kyle Trask at the end of the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft was not a mistake.

Licht was asked about selecting Trask and his future in Tampa Bay as he enters a contract year on a recent episode of the Pewter Report Podcast.

“You know you guys know me by now,” Licht said. “I will tell you where I made a mistake and I will admit it and say, ‘You know I’ve learned from that.’ I’m not making any apologies for taking Kyle Trask.”

As I wrote back in March for PewterReport.com, the process behind selecting Trask was sound. Licht and the Bucs were attempting to find an eventual successor to Tom Brady and have that quarterback spend a few years learning behind the best to ever do it.

Green Bay is the envy of the league with the Packers successfully transitioning from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love over the span of four decades. Rodgers was drafted when Favre was still in his prime, and Love was drafted when Rodgers was still in his prime.

“You know you’ve got teams that have – in back-to-back years – taken quarterbacks in the Top 10, and it’s a premium position,” Licht said. “You want to hit on it. You get desperate, teams get desperate [looking for a franchise quarterback]. You see what teams give up in trades, you see what they’re doing in money – guaranteed money – all these things to get their quarterback. So to take one in the second round – I have no apologies for that.”

Bucs QB Kyle Trask and Jets QB Aaron Rodgers – Photo by: USA Today

Yet some Bucs fans have criticized the selection of Trask, feeling like a premium draft pick was wasted on a player that hasn’t seen the field much over the past three years.

During Trask’s rookie season in 2021, the Buccaneers saw two offensive tackles get hurt in the playoffs with All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs missing the Rams game with an ankle sprain, and then swing tackle Josh Wells, his replacement, playing on gimpy leg himself due to injury. Wells struggled mightily against the Rams as a result.

Perhaps if the Bucs had drafted an offensive tackle in the second round in 2021 as an eventual replacement for Donovan Smith that player could have stepped in for Wells and helped Tampa Bay’s offense score more than three points against L.A. in the first half of a 30-27 loss in the NFC Divisional round. That’s the “what if?” gripe that has caused some fans to sour on Tampa Bay’s selection of Kyle Trask over the years.

Kyle Trask Remains An Unknown Commodity, But Bucs Continue To Have Faith

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

While the process might have been sound, the execution remains up for debate as Kyle Trask has yet to be given the opportunity to prove what he can do. After spending his first two seasons as the No. 3 quarterback behind Brady and veteran backup Blaine Gabbert, Trask was Baker Mayfield’s primary backup last year after losing the battle for the starting job in the preseason.

As fate would have it for Trask, neither Brady nor Mayfield has missed a start in the last three years.

But just because Trask hasn’t had the chance to play in meaningful NFL games yet doesn’t mean that he can’t play.

“He’s going to be ready if he has to go in,” Bucs general manager Jason Licht said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he thrived if he went in because he is going to be learning a new system again, but it’s pretty close – it’s close in a lot of ways to our last system.”

Trask enters a contract year in Tampa Bay in an unenviable position. Outside of a handful of snaps in regular season games, all that the Bucs and other NFL teams have to go – in terms of tape to evaluate – are a few preseason appearances.

Part of the reason why the Bucs were attracted to Trask is that he had to sit and wait to start in high school behind quarterback D’Eriq King and again at Florida when he was behind starter Feleipe Franks for the first two years of his Gators career.

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: USA Today

“His entire career he’s been one that has had to wait his turn and then once he got the opportunity he took off,” Licht said.

That potential promise still has the Bucs intrigued fours year later and Licht hopes that Trask will remain in Tampa Bay in 2025 and beyond. But after sitting and waiting for four years, Trask may be itching for a more promising situation elsewhere where he could compete for a starting job. With Mayfield signed through the 2026 season, Trask’s only path to playing time would be if Mayfield gets hurt or suddenly becomes ineffective.

“You know how important a backup quarterback is,” Licht said. “We would love to have him for a long time. Hopefully the best-case scenario is Baker thrives and keeps thriving the way he is [and Trask succeeds him eventually]. But I don’t know if that’s going to be the case.

“You know players seem to want to get their opportunity, so that’s what happened with Mike Glennon. I wanted to keep Mike Glennon around and you know he got his we got a shot in Chicago. So we’ll see what happens.”

Jason Licht Joins The Pewter Report Podcast

You can watch the entire interview with Bucs general manager Jason Licht from his recent appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast by clicking the video below.