In the battle to replace the G.O.A.T., the kid is at an experience disadvantage.
Former No. 1 overall draft pick Baker Mayfield has made a favorable impression on his new Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates as he battles second-year-pro Kyle Trask to fill the shoes left empty by Tom Brady’s retirement.
“Obviously, Baker already he’s been ‘the guy’ and, you know, he’s expected to live up to what everybody expected him to be,” linebacker Lavonte David said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, according to JoeBucsFan.com. “Baker is great for our locker room. I like the way Baker carries himself coming in with a ready-to-work mentality. Everybody loves him already and the way he approaches practice is great to see. So there’s definitely some great things to see out of Baker.”
Whereas Trask only attempted nine passes off the bench as a rookie drafted in the second round, Mayfield has made 69 career starts for the Browns, Panthers and Rams.
He led the Browns to an 11-5 regular-season record plus a playoff win in 2020 but his upward trajectory went astray over the last two years.
“He’s a guy who’s done it before — took his team to the playoffs and done some great things so far. So the competition with those guys is going to be very, very competitive and I’m glad to be a part of it,” David said. “During minicamp it was really fun to see those guys are really having fun with it and they’re helping each other throughout the way. So that’s definitely something I love to see, as well.”
David praised Trask for being “able to take in the offense and be able to kind of like lead guys and stuff like that.”
Brady has maintained that he is not coming out of retirement despite constant speculation that he might for a second time once training camps start up and he is without football for the first time in decades.
