The Buccaneers’ patience with Riley Dixon has run well past the point of comfort.
What was supposed to be a steady veteran answer at punter has turned into one more headache for a team that can’t afford any self-inflicted wounds. Sunday brought the latest problem: a 28-yard punt that gave Pittsburgh a short field and immediately put Tampa Bay in a bad spot.
That kick wasn’t just ugly in isolation. It fit a pattern.
Earlier this season against Dallas, Dixon had two punts that each went 38 yards, and his longest of the day was only 43. The concerns around him had already started to pile up, and Sunday’s effort pushed them back to the front of the conversation. How long can a team keep waiting before it admits the position has become a liability?
The recent numbers aren’t helping his case. Against Green Bay, Dixon averaged 40 yards on four punts and finished with a net average of 35.2 yards.
Against Pittsburgh, he punted six times, averaged 40.8 yards, and did not land a single punt inside the 20. Across those two games, Tampa Bay got almost nothing in terms of field-position value from the punting game.
Sunday’s sequence made the issue easy to see. After a sack of Jalon Daniels left Tampa Bay at its own 16-yard line, Dixon’s punt went only to the Buccaneers’ 44, handing Pittsburgh the ball in Tampa Bay territory. That’s the kind of moment where a veteran punter is supposed to flip the field, not shrink it.
Dixon is not the reason Tampa Bay is 1-5, but that record also can’t be used to excuse his performance. The Buccaneers picked up his contract option for 2026 because they believed he would bring reliability. Six weeks into the season, that decision deserves a hard look.
At the very least, Tampa Bay should be working out other punters right now. Competition doesn’t promise a fix, but standing still while the same issue keeps showing up is its own message.
Todd Bowles has kept stressing execution, and that standard has to cover special teams too. If poor play is supposed to matter, then special teams can’t be a free pass.
Dixon has had enough chances to stabilize this, and the Buccaneers have had enough reminders of how damaging bad field position can be. It’s time to see whether somebody else can do the job better.
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