The Buccaneers are heading into 2026 with more questions than they’ve had in a while, and the list starts at the top.
Baker Mayfield is in the final year of his contract, and there still isn’t an extension in place. That alone puts Tampa Bay in a tricky spot. If Mayfield turns in the kind of season that pushes his price beyond what the Buccaneers want to pay, the team will have to figure out what comes next.
That contract situation isn’t the only one hanging over the roster. Cody Mauch and Yaya Diaby are also pending free agents, and after Tampa Bay extended Vita Vea, keeping the rest of the core together gets tougher. Locking in Vea was a major move, but it comes with a cost.
Then there’s Todd Bowles. He’s entering his fifth year as the Buccaneers’ head coach, and plenty of fans still aren’t sold. The team has been stuck in place under his watch, and this season feels like a clear turning point for him.
The division also looks different than it has in recent years. The NFC South is getting better, even if it still isn’t exactly a juggernaut. The Panthers won the crown a season ago, and the Saints and Falcons still need to show they can do it consistently, but Tampa Bay can’t assume smooth sailing anymore.
That’s why some fans are already sounding uneasy about where this is all headed. A team that once looked like a reliable Super Bowl threat now feels closer to a crossroads. If the Buccaneers miss the playoffs again, a rebuild could start creeping onto the horizon.
Still, there’s reason to avoid going full panic mode just yet. The Buccaneers have shown what they can do when the roster is healthy and the offense is rolling, and the rest of the division remains unproven. Even so, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon pushed Tampa Bay’s panic meter to a nine, the highest in the NFC South.
"Some might already be resigned to the notion the window has closed in Tampa. But for those clinging to hope that Baker Mayfield and Todd Bowles have some sort of run left in them, this is the do-or-die campaign."
That’s the heart of it for Tampa Bay. This season will say a lot about whether the Buccaneers still have a real run left in them or whether the franchise is starting to drift out of that Super Bowl window.
In Other News...
Bucs Rookie LB Is Forcing His Way Into A Bigger Role
Josiah Trotter has spent Buccaneers training camp and the joint work with Jacksonville making the kind of impression that gets coaches attention quickly. The rookie inside linebacker has shown up in all the ways Tampa Bay needs from the position, whether it is stopping the run, getting after the quarterback or holding up in coverage, and he even picked off a Trevor Lawrence pass during practice with the Jaguars.
With injuries thinning the group around him, Trotter appears to be pushing his way toward a starting job next to Alex Anzalone. Todd Bowles has already singled out Trotters instincts and football intelligence, while the rookie has sounded confident he can handle an every-down workload, which leaves the final decision less about whether he belongs and more about how soon the Bucs fully turn the job over. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Preseason Finale Suddenly Carries One Roster Battle That Matters
Training camp is in the books and the Buccaneers now shift from preparation to pruning, with their final preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars arriving as the last chance for players on the bubble to make a case. The bigger deadline comes soon after, with Tampa Bay needing to trim its roster from 90 to 53 by Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET, so every snap in the finale carries a little more weight than a typical August wrap-up.
At the top of the list is the backup quarterback job, where Jalon Daniels and Drake Browning are still being sorted out. The game against Jacksonville is expected to help settle that decision, and for a team that has already spent weeks evaluating its depth chart, it leaves one of the most important choices hanging over the final exhibition as the Buccaneers head toward roster cuts. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Suddenly Have A Rueben Bain Jr. Concern Before Week 1
Rueben Bain Jr. was supposed to spend August building momentum, not dealing with a setback, but the Buccaneers first-round pick hurt his AC joint during a joint practice with the Jaguars and will miss the rest of the preseason. Before the injury, he had already flashed enough in his lone exhibition game to earn strong marks, which only made the interruption more frustrating for a team that was trying to see its top rookie continue to settle in.
For Tampa Bay, the bigger issue now is less about the preseason and more about keeping Bain on track for Week 1 against the Bengals. The expectation is that he will be available when the games count, but any missed time for a player with this kind of early promise is enough to create a little extra concern heading into the opener. [Read more 🡒]