Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2026 Offseason Outlook

A funny thing happened to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their way to a fifth-straight NFC South title. Well, it wasn’t all that funny to the Buccaneers or their fans. Tampa Bay went into the 2025 season seeking their fifth straight NFC South title — and given the landscape of the division, it didn’t seem there would be much opposition.

Sure enough, the season began as expected. Not only did the Bucs jump out to a fast start, quarterback Baker Mayfield was being hyped as a leading MVP candidate.

Alas, injuries and inefficiency began to mount. The Bucs fell back to the pack, while the division-rival Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons both showed improvement. In the end, those teams finished in a three-way tie for first place — albeit at 8-9 — but the Bucs failed to make the playoffs based on tie-breakers.

On paper, it’s possible the Bucs can go into next season with a team worthy of getting back to the playoffs, but several key players — some of whom are free agents — are getting up there in age.

2025 recap

Six weeks into the season, Mayfield and the Bucs were legitimately looking like Super Bowl contenders. Tampa Bay won back-to-back games against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers to improve to 5-1. Mayfield had 12 touchdown passes, throwing at least two in five of the six games. With veteran receiver Chris Godwin still rehabbing an injury when the season began, rookie Emeka Egbuka had a chance to emerge — and he was playing like a rookie of the year candidate.

Then came the injuries. Star receiver Mike Evans broke his collarbone and missed nine games; running back Bucky Irving missed seven games; Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs missed five. The Bucs were 6-2 going into their bye week, but they went into freefall after that. Tampa Bay lost seven of its next eight games. And despite beating Carolina in the regular-season finale, it was not enough to save the season.

Mayfield ended the season having completed 63.2% of his passes for 3,693 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Egbuka’s pace slowed severely, though he still led the team with 63 receptions for 938 yards and six TDs. Because of the injury, Evans had just 30 catches for 368 yards and three scores — the first time in his illustrious 12-year career that he didn’t have 1,000 yards.

Despite featuring productive veteran players at all three levels of defense — players like nose tackle Vita Vea, linebacker Lavonte David and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. — the sum did not add up to the parts. The Bucs finished 19th it total defense and 20th in scoring defense, allowing 27 or more points seven times. The Bucs had brought in edge rusher Haason Reddick to bolster the pass rush; Reddick finished with just 2.5 sacks, the lowest total of his career when starting at least 12 games.

Key free agents

WR Mike Evans
DE Haason Reddick
CB Jamel Dean
LB Lavonte David
RB Rachad White
LB Anthoy Walker Jr.
TE Cade Otten

Buccaneers salary cap space

$23,828,710

2026 draft needs

A lot of what they do in the draft will depend on what happens with their big-name free agents. Adding a dynamic edge rusher should be the priority regardless. Even if Lavonte David returns, the Bucs should add some youth to the linebacker position. Guard and cornerback are other potential areas of need. If they don’t re-sign free agent Cade Otten, that position needs to be addressed.

2026 opponents

Home: Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Cleveland, Green Bay, L.A. Chargers, L.A. Rams, Minnesota, Pittsburgh

Away:Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit