Bucs' Baker Mayfield, Todd Bowles come together for another shot ...

TAMPA, Fla. — As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to embark on a new era, with that brief but memorable Tom Brady-led chapter now complete, Todd Bowles makes one thing abundantly clear.

“I don’t look at it as big shoes to fill,” the Bucs’ second-year head coach told The Athletic from his office at AdventHealth Training Center four days into training camp. “Those shoes can never be filled. We just bought a different pair altogether.

“Nobody will ever come behind the greatest of all time,” Bowles continued. “That’s already etched in stone. But we can win in different ways. We have a different scheme. We have two different types of quarterbacks and we’re not trying to ask them to be nobody but themselves, and we have guys around them who can make plays. And that’s what we’re building it off of.”

Those quarterbacks Bowles referenced are Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield. Trask is Tampa Bay’s 2021 second-round pick, with one game appearance and three pass completions to his name in two seasons. Mayfield, of course, is the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner, first pick of the 2018 draft and the odds-on favorite to win the starting job after signing with the Bucs this offseason.

The competition has tightened in recent weeks, though. The Bucs open the preseason at home against the Steelers on Friday, and while Mayfield will start against Pittsburgh, Trask will get the start next week against the New York Jets. The unofficial depth chart released by the team earlier this week listed “Mayfield -OR- Trask” as QB1.

Here’s the full unofficial depth chart released by the Bucs this morning: pic.twitter.com/zvAkxwb3I1

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Once heralded as the face of the Browns, Mayfield now finds himself with his fourth team since 2021 and fighting to prove he remains that dangerous dude who in 2020 ended Cleveland’s 18-year playoff drought and also led the team to its first postseason victory in 26 years.

An injury-plagued 2021 and frictions between Mayfield and Browns coach Kevin Stefanski led to Mayfield’s unceremonious finish in Cleveland and trade to the Carolina Panthers, kicking off a nomadic 2022 season.

But now, hope springs eternal for Mayfield. In Tampa, he has joined forces with Bowles, whose own career as a head coach features parallels to Mayfield’s NFL journey.

In 2018, Bowles was head coach of the Jets, who owned the third pick of the draft. They likely would have used it to select Mayfield had Cleveland not taken him with the top selection. New York instead drafted quarterback Sam Darnold, who went 4-9 as a rookie in what turned out to be Bowles’ last of four seasons with the Jets.

Now, five years later, Bowles and Mayfield have finally united. Their NFL futures may hinge on how both fare in their respective roles this season.

For Mayfield, Tampa Bay likely represents his last legitimate shot at becoming an NFL franchise quarterback. He’s 31-38 in five seasons, with a winning record in just one year (2020, when he went 11-5). With success in 2023, he can prove that his fizzle in Cleveland and inconsistencies while on the quarterback carousel in Carolina were due to circumstances beyond his control. He gets a chance to show he can be a high-level field general capable of directing Super Bowl pursuits.

Bowles, meanwhile, gets his best — and possibly final — chance to show he can improve on his struggles in four seasons with the Jets and last year with the Bucs. That the head coach can build, develop and lead a winning team.

Bowles said he and Mayfield hit it off during those pre-draft evaluation days in 2018 and maintained communication over the years. That made Bowles “very comfortable” bringing Mayfield in to Tampa Bay.

“He had a lot of moxie, you know? A lot of leadership skills,” Bowles recalled of Mayfield, the rookie. “He knew how to make plays with his feet or with his arms, and he really just likes to win and compete. I saw that in him then and I see that in him now, and that’s one of the reasons that attracted us to him.”

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Mayfield couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of the partnership coming to fruition all these years later. His respect for Bowles, and Bucs general manager Jason Licht’s track record as the builder of well-rounded rosters, made his decision to sign with Tampa Bay “a no-brainer.”

Yes, Brady’s shadow still looms. And his retirement following last season’s arduous 8-9 campaign and disappointing first-round playoff exit has few fans believing the Bucs can finish in the NFC’s upper echelon.

But internally, Bucs coaches and players still have weighty expectations, no matter the significant roster changes since the team’s successful Super Bowl campaign during the 2020 season.

The opportunity at hand and the vibe within the organization excites Mayfield, who perpetually embraces opportunities to defy naysayers.

“Everybody talks about Tom’s gone. Yes, he is the greatest quarterback to ever play,” Mayfield said in an interview with The Athletic after a recent practice. “But football is the greatest team sport in the world. And so it takes a lot more than just one person. And there’s a lot of good pieces here. And, yeah, they were banged up last year. I think everybody’s hungry and ready to go.”

In terms of mental makeup, the Buccaneers probably couldn’t have found a more ideal candidate to lead them into the post-Brady era than Mayfield, a player unabashedly comfortable in his own skin.

“I’ve always been myself. That’s kind of why people either love or hate me,” Mayfield said, laughing. “So I do it my own way. And I enjoy doing it. I have fun while I’m doing it. … I respect (Brady) completely, but I’m not going to ever try and be him. I’m not built like him. I don’t play like him. So just, yeah, try to be the best version of myself.”

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Hard to believe it's the 10th year already!https://t.co/mGLlYVPRw0

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Mayfield has never found a task too daunting.

A projected backup as a junior at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, Mayfield was thrust into the starting role four plays into the season and took control, posting a 25-2 record over two years and winning a state championship. He walked on at Texas Tech and won Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. He and former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury had some differences, so Mayfield transferred to Oklahoma, walked on there too, and capped a decorated career with the Heisman Trophy.

That’s largely why Mayfield has refused to let the misfortunes he has encountered in the NFL shake his confidence. Instead, they have only fortified the chip on his shoulder.

“There were definitely times where I could have gotten down,” he said. “But I just stayed ready for my chance and my moment, because that’s kind of how I got to the college level from high school anyway. It was just being an undersized guy with my chance and taking advantage of it when I get the opportunity. I revert back to that. … This is a game where you never know what’s going to happen. Precious moments, so you’ve got to love it.”

That mindset and approach were attractive to Bowles and his assistants.

This offseason, Bowles embraced the opportunity to surround himself with a hand-picked staff. He had inherited Bruce Arians’ assistants last year following Arians’ unexpected retirement on March 30 — late in the offseason by NFL standards.

Seeking a fresh offensive approach, Bowles parted with coordinator Byron Leftwich and appointed former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales to the position. Mayfield proved to have the skills necessary for the Bucs’ new offense.

Baker Mayfield is 31-38 as a starter. He’ll be QB1 in the Bucs’ preseason opener versus the Steelers. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)

After Mayfield’s rocky six-game tenure in Carolina last season, he was released and subsequently claimed on waivers by the Los Angeles Rams, with whom the quarterback rediscovered his playmaking ways in Sean McVay’s offense. That four-game stint helped Mayfield get a head start on learning Tampa Bay’s new playbook, since there are similarities between McVay’s and Canales’ systems.

Befitting of the Mayfield journey, the path to Tampa Bay’s starting job has not unfolded effortlessly. He has made impressive throws in training camp, and he has turned the ball over more than he or anyone else would like.

Through two weeks, Mayfield and Trask have alternated work with the first team, and although Mayfield opened the preseason practices with an edge because of his experience and knowledge of the offense, Canales said the competition has tightened as the bigger Trask has shown off his arm strength while also demonstrating an ability to take care of the football.

Despite this, Mayfield maintains belief that he will not only win the starting job, but lead Tampa Bay back to the playoffs this season. He reminds himself that this is a process, and that developing chemistry with new teammates takes time. With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at his disposal, Mayfield has perhaps the best wide receiver tandem he has worked with in the NFL. Bowles wants him to remember that he doesn’t have to force things. Instead, Mayfield must strike that balance of embracing high-pressure situations that require big throws while also knowing when to serve merely as a facilitator.

“We’ve got a complete team,” Bowles said. “I know quarterback’s one of the most important positions and probably the most important position on the field, but we got a team around him where he doesn’t have to go win the game all by himself. You need somebody that can fit in well, understand they have to win games when need be and then they have to do things the right way when we need it. So we’ve got guys around him that can do that so he doesn’t have to rely on himself all the time.”

Mayfield may wind up being one of — if not the — most important pieces added to the Bucs this offseason. But to position themselves for a third straight NFC South title and fourth consecutive postseason appearance, Bowles said it was important to get younger and faster at other key positions as well.

Rampant injuries to aging veterans derailed Tampa Bay’s championship hopes last season. The oldest roster in the league coupled with a debilitating salary-cap situation forced the Bucs to cycle out a number of veterans for younger alternatives this offseason. Now the Bucs field a training camp roster that includes 27 rookies as Bowles and Licht seek improved balance, explosiveness and effectiveness.

Along with improved comfort with his roster, Bowles also feels more at peace in general heading into his second year as Bucs head coach. He had to scramble to catch up after Arians’ surprise retirement and confessed he often felt like he was coaching on the fly for much of last season.

Once Tampa Bay exited the playoffs with that 31-14 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Bowles did a deep-dive evaluation of the season, starting with himself.

He recognized the need for more balance. Although he’s a respected defensive mind, Bowles believed he needed to be more hands-on in the structuring of offensive practices. He also saw areas in which he could better delegate defensive direction. Bowles said those changes and the ability to start the review and planning process earlier have helped position him for greater effectiveness as a head coach in 2023.

“I think as a coach, when you stop trying to learn and teach, I think that’s when you need to retire, and I don’t think I’m done learning or teaching,” Bowles said. “I’m a little bit calmer this year. … Although the outside world can’t see that, I can feel that for me.”

Mayfield has found Bowles’ poise both impressive and inspiring. A fiery personality, Mayfield has often relished the role of the villain, hesitating at nothing to clap back at opponents or critics. But as he has matured, Mayfield has sought a more measured approach to life on and off the field. The quarterback believes that Bowles just may rub off on him, particularly during game periods when poise is needed the most.

“His calm nature is definitely good for me to see,” Mayfield said. “Just situationally, how calm he is, and knowing that … he’s going to control the clock and do all the right things, it’s great for us. … It’s going to be good for me.”

Growth and evolution are the names of the game for the Buccaneers on all fronts this season. And if Bowles and Mayfield have indeed achieved the growth necessary to reach their full potential, this pairing — a long time in the making — could position Tampa Bay for a new chapter of success.

(Illustration: Ray Orr / The Athletic; photos: Getty Images)

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