The Kyle Trask NFL journey is heading to Charlotte. Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer reported that the veteran quarterback is signing with the Carolina Panthers, giving Dave Canales another arm to sort through in a suddenly crowded QB room.
Trask is 28 years old and best known as the guy who watched Tom Brady practice every day in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers took him in the second round in 2021 and he spent his first two years as Brady’s understudy. Since then, he has made a grand total of seven career appearances with zero starts, all in Tampa. He spent last season on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad.
Not exactly a marquee signing on paper. But context matters, and Carolina had a specific need to fill this weekend.
The Panthers just watched Haynes King, the preseason hero of the Hall of Fame Game, get diagnosed with a hamstring injury that has him week-to-week. King caught fire against the Cardinals last Thursday, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for a third to win it as time expired. That put him in the mix as a possible backup to Bryce Young.
Now he is on the shelf. Enter Trask.
Trask does not walk in and take a starting job. Young is the starter, no debate. Kenny Pickett, a former first-round pick, is still in the room as QB2. King is going to work back into the mix once his hamstring cooperates. So what does Trask actually get?
A camp arm, a training camp reset, and a chance to convince Dave Canales that his four years around Brady taught him something. Trask was a passing touchdowns leader at Florida, and there is a version of him that becomes a functional backup in the right system. Canales has a reputation for getting the most out of veteran quarterbacks, especially the ones with clean footwork and decent decision-making.
The real read on this signing is what it says about Kenny Pickett. Carolina traded for Pickett in 2024 expecting him to be a credible bridge or emergency starter. He has never looked like that guy, in Pittsburgh or in Carolina. The Panthers signing another veteran the same week their preseason star went down suggests they are not comfortable with Pickett as the emergency plan.
Corresponding move-wise, Kaye added that Carolina will have to cut someone to make room for Trask. That is where things get interesting. Do the Panthers finally move on from Pickett? Do they cut a special teamer or a deep depth guy? Whatever they do will tell us where the coaching staff really is on their backup plan.
For Trask, this is another chance. Brady endorsed him personally back in 2023, saying Trask had the right mindset and preparation to succeed in the league. That endorsement has not translated to on-field opportunity yet. Carolina is not exactly a launching pad for quarterback careers, but it is at least a room with reps available.
Bryce Young needs stability behind him. Carolina thinks Trask can offer some of that. The next few weeks of camp will tell us if the coaching staff was right.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
