Buccaneers' Tristan Wirfs talks up Kyle Trask amid competition with Baker Mayfield

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs offered insight into why 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask may be closing the gap in the quarterback competition involving free-agency signing Baker Mayfield.

"Trask has been awesome," Wirfs explained during a Friday appearance on Florida sports radio station WDAE, according to the JoeBucsFan website. "I feel like he’s starting to just blossom. Every day he comes out and gets better." 

Wirfs indicated back in the spring he was ready to block for Mayfield beginning with the Week 1 game at the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 10, and JoeBucsFan has repeatedly noted how the two are suitemates and good friends. However, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales suggested earlier this week that Trask was gaining ground in the quarterback battle ahead of the team's preseason opener versus the Pittsburgh Steelers next Friday. 

Trask has thus far attempted just nine career regular-season passes and spent his first two pro campaigns beneath living legend Tom Brady and veteran Blaine Gabbert on the depth chart. Wirfs believes the 25-year-old picked up more than a few helpful pieces of information while sitting underneath the figurative learning tree. 

"You know, he had a couple years to sit behind Tom and Blaine, you know those guys, learn a little bit," Wirfs continued about Trask. "At first he was a little nervous, a little skittish, kind of being the one in command. I think he’s kind of starting to get that swag about him, that presence about him in the huddle."

Per ESPN's Jenna Laine, Mayfield's one-year contract with the Buccaneers is only worth up to $8.5M and starts at $4M, meaning the club made no major investment in the 28-year-old early into this offseason. Trask still has plenty to prove in front of live defenses during what are largely meaningless exhibition games, but it sounds like he's slowly earning the trust of teammates during a competition most assumed last month was already settled.