Cade Otton’s new contract was supposed to buy the Buccaneers steady production at tight end. Six games in, Tampa Bay is still waiting for that return.
The Bucs handed Otton a three-year, $30 million deal with $20 million guaranteed this offseason, a clear show of faith in their starting tight end. But that investment has not translated into meaningful impact in the passing game.
In Sunday’s 26-19 overtime loss to Pittsburgh, Otton was barely part of the offense: one catch, four yards, two targets. Tampa Bay threw the ball 43 times in a game that demanded answers, and one of its highest-paid pass catchers was almost invisible.
That night was only the latest example of a season that has started with more questions than production. Through six games, Otton has 19 receptions for 186 yards and no touchdowns.
He is averaging 31 receiving yards per game and has topped 40 yards only once. His 56-yard outing against Minnesota is still his best showing of the year, and it also accounts for nearly 20% of his total receiving yardage.
That has to be measured against why the Buccaneers paid him in the first place. Otton had 59 catches in each of the previous two seasons and had established himself as a dependable option underneath for Baker Mayfield.
Tampa Bay was not betting on flash or big-play juice. It was paying for reliability, consistency, and the kind of all-around usefulness that keeps an offense moving.
Instead, the passing-game impact has faded.
Some of that falls on Zac Robinson. Against Pittsburgh, the Steelers brought pressure often enough to make life difficult for Jalon Daniels, and a tight end operating underneath coverage should have been a useful safety valve. Otton managed only two catches anyway, leaving a hole in a passing attack that was searching for dependable targets.
Still, the staff does not get all the blame. Otton has never been a dynamic receiver.
He has averaged fewer than 10 yards per catch for his career, and he has not shown the kind of yards-after-catch ability or vertical threat that turns a tight end into a difference-maker through the air. Tampa Bay can point to his blocking, durability, and the fact that he stays on the field for nearly every snap.
Those things matter, especially in an offense built around the run.
But a $30 million deal asks for more than that. Right now, the Buccaneers are paying premium money for a tight end who has not consistently moved the needle in the passing game.
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