17 July 2023 , 12:13
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers captain and long-time leader Lavonte David has given his support to Baker Mayfield ahead of the quarterback battle ahead.
Tom Brady announced his retirement in February, with the Buccaneers having an array of options available to them this off-season. However, they opted not to go after the likes of Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr, but instead signed Mayfield to compete with Brady's former backup Kyle Trask.
Both Trask and Mayfield have been sharing reps with the starters in practice during OTAs, with the team set to get a better feel of who will be the man when the pads go in to begin training camp in August.
But David has given a huge vote of confidence to Mayfield, a player who is likely to have a big say on their decisions going forward.
Speaking on SiriusXM NFL Radio, David said: "Obviously, Baker already he’s been ‘the guy’ and, you know, he’s expected to live up to what everybody expected him to be.
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"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.
"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.
"During minicamp it was really fun to see, man, 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."
Baker MayfieldMayfield has had a rough few seasons after breaking records in his rookie year when he was drafted with the first overall pick in 2018.
He eventually lost his spot as starter with the Cleveland Browns when they traded for Deshaun Watson in 2022, before joining and being waived by the Carolina Panthers after just a few weeks of struggling.
Mayfield then joined the Los Angeles Rams and performed well in a short stint, but was not resigned with Matt Stafford returning to the team.
This is seen as Mayfield's last shot to be a starter in the league, and one he'll have to win from former second-round draft pick Kyle Trask - who sat behind Brady for two years.