Cade Otton’s new contract already looks a little tougher to justify after Isaiah Likely’s Giants debut.
Otton was not the kind of difference-maker Tampa Bay needed in its Week 1 loss. He finished with three catches for 30 yards on five targets, and the night included a costly drop that helped set up a turnover on the very next play. For a tight end who signed an extension this offseason, that’s not the sort of start the Buccaneers were hoping for.
The deal itself - three years, $30 million - wasn’t some wild reach. It landed right around Otton’s market value. The real question is whether Tampa Bay should have spent that money differently, especially with a more explosive option available at nearly the same level.
That option was Likely, a player Buccaneers fans already knew well. As a rookie in 2022, he burned Tampa Bay for six catches, 77 yards and a touchdown. Over his first four seasons, he averaged about 34 receptions, 392 yards and four touchdowns per year, flashing real receiving upside while stuck behind Mark Andrews in Baltimore’s run-heavy offense.
Likely hit free agency looking for a bigger role and followed his former coach John Harbaugh to the New York Giants on a three-year, $40 million contract that pays a little more than $13 million per year. Then he walked into his Giants debut and made an immediate impact, catching eight passes on eight targets for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
That kind of start only sharpens the Buccaneers’ regret. Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Zac Robinson used 12 personnel at the second-highest rate of any play caller last season with the Atlanta Falcons, and Kyle Pitts responded with a career year: 88 catches, 928 yards and five touchdowns. With that in mind, it’s fair to wonder whether Tampa Bay should have gone a little higher to land Likely and give Baker Mayfield a more dangerous matchup problem at tight end.
The standard defense of Otton is that he brings more as a blocker, which matters a lot in Tampa Bay’s tight end room. But even that argument gets shaky when you look at the numbers. Pro Football Focus gave Likely a 66.5 run-blocking grade in 2025, better than Otton’s 56.1.
And the Buccaneers already have blockers there in Ko Kieft and Payne Durham, with Durham grading as PFF’s best run blocker a season ago. That makes Likely’s value as a receiver stand out even more. He’s the more dynamic pass catcher, and he’s good enough in the run game to survive in the role.
Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Maybe Likely would have stayed with Harbaugh and ended up in New York regardless. But after watching him lead the Giants in catches, yards and touchdowns in the opener, it’s easy to see why this one is going to linger in Tampa Bay.
Jason Licht’s preference for keeping the homegrown guys in house makes sense. Still, when the return is this modest, passing on a bigger swing can leave a front office answering uncomfortable questions.
In Other News...
Bucs Pass Rush Concern Just Got More Real With Rueben Bain Jr
Rueben Bain Jr. arrived with plenty of buzz in the preseason, and the Buccaneers had reason to believe the rookie could add some needed juice to a pass rush that has been searching for answers. But his first NFL game offered little immediate payoff, as Bain finished the Week 1 loss to the Bengals without a sack or pressure and with only one tackle, a quiet debut for a player Tampa Bay hoped could help change the feel of its front.
The bigger issue is that Bain is still adjusting to a new position, which adds another layer to a pass rush problem the Buccaneers could not solve against Cincinnati. One game is hardly the end of the story, but it does sharpen the question Tampa Bay brought into the season: how quickly can a young edge player make the leap from promising preseason name to someone who actually alters what opposing quarterbacks see on Sundays? [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers May Have Found The Better Answer At Offensive Coordinator
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McDaniel, meanwhile, inherited a Chargers offense that struggled to get much going against the Arizona Cardinals. One week is hardly a full verdict on any coordinator decision, but for the Buccaneers, the first glimpse under Robinson made the choice look at least as defensible as the one that got away. In a league where offensive identity can take shape quickly, Tampa Bays start suggested it may have landed on the cleaner fit. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Already Face One Big NFC South Question After Escaping Week 1
The Buccaneers got out of Week 1 with a win over the Bengals, but it came with enough sloppiness to keep the coaching staff busy. Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving both turned the ball over multiple times, and Tampa Bay still had to sweat its way through a game that should have provided a cleaner opening statement. Even so, the Bucs avoided the kind of early setback that can linger in a division race, especially with the rest of the NFC South stumbling right alongside them.
Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta also opened with losses, leaving the division logjammed at 0-1 and turning the next few weeks into a quick test of who can settle down first. For Tampa Bay, the bigger issue is not simply the win column, but whether those turnover problems were a one-week hiccup or the first sign of a tougher stretch ahead. The schedule is about to start sorting out the division, and the Bucs are already carrying a question every contender wants answered before September gets too far along. [Read more 🡒]