The Buccaneers don’t have a camp full of open questions, but a few spots are still very much up for grabs. Tampa Bay can already sketch out most of its depth chart and 53-man roster, yet three battles stand out as the ones that could shape how the roster settles in over the summer.
At cornerback, the fight opposite Zyon McCollum is the one to watch. Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish were both Day 2 picks for Jason Licht in the 2025 NFL draft, with Morrison going in the second round and Parrish in the third.
Parrish already carved out the starting nickel job as a rookie, while Morrison spent his first season in the outside corner rotation. The problem for Morrison is the health side of the equation: he missed seven games as a rookie and also sat out OTAs because of a nagging leg issue.
That has left Parrish as the current favorite to win the outside job, though the final call won’t come until the pads go on in camp and, possibly, the preseason.
Quarterback is another spot with a clear favorite and a real competition underneath it. Jake Browning is the front-runner to back up Baker Mayfield, and his resume gives him a big leg up.
He’s been in the NFL since 2019 and has 10 career starts, which is a lot of experience compared with the rest of the room. Jalon Daniels is the developmental wild card, an undrafted rookie with raw tools, while Connor Bazelak is back for a second season after spending his rookie year on the practice squad.
Browning is the heavy favorite, but Daniels has turned heads since rookie minicamp and OTAs, and he’s got believers inside the building. Bazelak also got another shot because the team valued him enough to bring him back.
That means QB3, a practice squad spot, and maybe even the longer-term backup role are all in play depending on how camp and the preseason unfold.
The last battle sits on the edge, where the Buccaneers suddenly have real depth. Rueben Bain Jr., Al-Quadin Muhammad, and the return of David Walker from injury have crowded the outside linebacker room and pushed Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson toward the bottom of the chart.
If Tampa Bay keeps five outside linebackers like it did last year, those two are likely fighting for the final spot. Braswell, a former second-round pick, has only 2.5 sacks through two seasons and hasn’t matched expectations.
Nelson brings the steadier track record; he has posted at least 3.0 sacks in five straight seasons since the Buccaneers drafted him in 2019, and he enters camp with the edge over Braswell.
In Other News...
Bucs Just Got A Valuation That Feels Like A Rebuild Warning
The Buccaneers are already juggling some important business as the offseason picture starts to sharpen, with contract talks still unresolved for Baker Mayfield and Vita Vea and Todd Bowles heading toward a 2026 season that will come with real scrutiny. Against that backdrop, ESPNs Bill Barnwell took a broader look at Tampa Bays roster and the kind of players who could fetch major trade value, a reminder of how much talent the team has accumulated even as the long-term direction remains unsettled.
What stands out is not that Tampa Bay is shopping anyone, but that the names near the top of that valuation exercise are the sort of players contenders usually build around, not move away from. Tristan Wirfs, Emeka Egbuka and Rueben Bain Jr. all drew first-round-pick-level interest in Barnwells framework, which says plenty about the Bucs ceiling and also why this roster keeps drawing attention from around the league. It is the kind of list that can look flattering one day and like a warning sign the next. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Bucs Suddenly Have A Real Shot At The South
The Buccaneers spent much of last season looking like a team built to control the NFC South before injuries and inconsistency turned the race into a scramble. Tampa Bay still has the core of a roster good enough to win the division, and the arrival of new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson gives Baker Mayfield a chance to get back on track after a step back in production a year ago.
That matters because the South does not have a clear front-runner, with Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans all part of a division that feels open heading into the season. If Mayfield can push closer to the level Tampa Bay expected when it brought him in, the Bucs will not just be in the conversation again, they could be the team everyone else is chasing. [Read more 🡒]