Breaking Buccaneers

A 2026 mock offseason

It’s been the worst season of Bowles tenure, the first time he hasn’t won the division and missed the playoffs with the Buccs. What can the team do to avoid another disappointing year and joining the HC search next year. 

Cap Situation

The Team is heading into the season with over $23m in cap space. A lot of contracts can be restructured and reworked easily, but also time to decide how long you want to push the ageing core.

Major Questions

New OC on the Block?

Zac Robinson, former Falcons OC is the newest Bucs OC. For the last Bucs OC, it was a tough situation for Josh Grizzard, the offense was constantly injured and sputtered when the injuries were too much to handle. Most coordinator firings are done less with the results in mind and with the overall vibes. The offense stats wise wasn’t far off from Dave Canales’ year with the Bucs, but a lot of behind the scenes stuff as well as preparation and cohesiveness was probably off. 

So now it's Zac time. With the Falcons he ran a very zone heavy offense and used a lot of pistol. I think part of it is due to his QB limitations (had 2 QBs with less than 2 working legs put together) and having an OL built for zone runs. With the Bucs the team ran a ton of gap runs. I think the main change might be having a more balanced run ratio.

As a playcaller when watching the Falcons for their mock offseason, the offense ran well (when the QBs didn’t try to ruin it.) He did a great job of running an offense through his talent, but it does lead to another major question…

 Help Wanted (for Weapons)?

The offensive weapons are very underwhelming heading into the year. I would say there isn’t a Bijan or even Drake London tier of player you can threaten defenses with. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin look like high end 2nd options. Cade Otton and Bucky are solid players. Tez and Emeka were fine as rookies but I have doubts about their upside…. Jalen Mcmillian is the wildcard player here. Besides that missing that player you can build an offense around.

Out with the old and in with the….?

Another major issue is that a lot of the top end players are getting older and will have to get replaced soon. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are on the downturn of their careers. Lavonte David is 36 and no replacement has been set. Vita Vea is 31 and still a major anchor on the DL but for how long? How aggressive will Licht be in trying to get high end talent on this team and when will he let these players go… especially because some of these players' contracts are up.

Team Overview

Quarterback

Baker Mayfield the guy. A bit of a down year but had to deal with new OC, injured OL, bad run game, and injured/washed WRs. Tough situation but still had that playmaking ability and toughness. Also a shit talker which I do love a bit. At the very least a good enough player to be your guy and operate an offense at a good level.

Run Game

The run game had a massive drop off with injuries to their Guards and some secondary blockers. Wirfs is great, Cody Mauch is solid and physical, Graham Barton is fast and gets to the second level well, Bredeson and Goedeke are fine. Michael Jordan stepped in and was serviceable for a backup. Dan Feeney was pretty bad overall. 

Ko Kieft is an elite run blocker, but missed most of the season. Otton is solid as an inline blocker. Sterling Sheperd and Chris Godwin are great. Emeka looked solid here too

The team did a ton of gap runs, lotta pullers and inserts, even from WRs. For the RBs, White isn’t good as a runner. Doesn’t have great patience, reactions and wants to bounce runs a lot. Bucky is a solid RB, runs hard. He doesn’t do as much to set up blocks and also wants to bounce runs a lot too. The run game isn’t as reliant on him to do too much, it's more reliant on the secondary blockers. The run game faltered with injuries to those players.

Pass Game

A lot of regression here. Pass pro was down from injuries at OL. Goedeke is solid, Wirfs great, Barton fine (really bad at OT) and the Gs were mainly Jordan and Feeney. Jordan wasn’t good but fine enough for a backup, Feeney was atrocious and a walking turnstile.

The receiving options regressed too. Mike Evans wasn’t the same Evans he’s been. Still great at making tough catches and you can force targets his way, but doesn’t have the same separation and athleticism to be the main guy. Chris Godwin is a great 2nd option, great at getting open and running after the catch. Otton is a solid option underneath. Then you get to the young WRs. Tez was more of a clearout guy who separated well, quick for his size but more of a threat from the slot. Mcmillian moved the best and got open a lot. Probably the most talented player on the team. Emeka was very disappointing. A lot of his production came manufactured from the scheme or late in plays with Baker extending. He struggled to separate from CBs. He does have great hands and is physical, as well as finding spots vs zone. 

Defense

Defensive Line

The scheme is simple here. Calijah Kancey is the mismatch weapon, and everyone else defends the run to get to passing downs for him to do his thing.

For the DTs, Vita Vea is the main anchor on the front. NT who can 2 gap and take on doubles at a high level. Dominant vs the run. Not asked to rush as much but has a mean hump move and club. Legit at pushing the pocket and running stunts. Great run defender and role player who can win 1 on 1s when asked to. Calijuh Kancey is a blitzing LB. Kinda being facetious, but he is someone who can rush from anywhere. He is fine vs the run, more of a 1 gapping penetrating DT who wants to back door plays a lot. As a rusher he is weird because he is extremely fast, which makes him better using speed to power which isn’t as useful on the interior. You can stand him up and have em run stunts (super fast with) have em push the pocket anywhere and rush him over smaller OTs. Just a mismatch weapon. Logan Hall was a really solid 3-4 DE. Strong vs the run, solid pass rusher. Really good club and swim and can win technically, main pass rusher inside with Kancey out. Greg Gaines a solid Nt type. Elijah Roberts was surprisingly solid. Another 3-4 DE type who was solid vs base blocks. Can be a good depth piece. Elijah Simmons a depth piece.

For Edge, Yaya Diaby is a good Edge 2 type. Neat secondary option who is more of a Speed to Power threat. Really fast and physical (very tough vs the run) can condense the pocket and be a legit contain player/stunter. Haason Reddick was solid too, smaller fast and fluid edge. Anthony Nelson was more of a big Body edge who is mainly a run defender and role player. Mainly asked to stunt/contain. Chris Braswell a Cross Chopper fan.. Fast in a straight line and nice stunter/container, neat speed to power and also a physical player. David Walker was hurt, but is a bowling ball of a human. Also very physical and throws his body around without any regard. The type at Edge is consistent, physical Edges who can use speed to power or condense the pocket and is physical vs the run. Condense the pocket to force the QB to Kancey/Vea up the middle, or any stunt ran inside.

Linebacker

Lavonte David good, but man the regression hurts to see, wasn’t as dominant as he has been. Can see some moments where his athleticism is lacking. Still great vs the run and solid in pass coverage. Now for Sirvocea Dennis… My unpopular opinion is that he wasn’t as bad as I expected. He is a very low end starter, did well following the QBs eyes vs the pass and tried hard vs the run, usually getting to the right spots. The main issue is a lack of talent. Very slow and his reaction isn’t there to make up for it. Maybe he develops it but who knows.

Secondary

Secondary is pretty talented, especially at Safety. Antoine Winfield is everywhere making plays, just a little small at times. Tykee also shows up everywhere and can play safety or nickel. Zyon is athletic and looked neat as an outside CB. Jacob Parrish is a Dawg. Super physical and very fast. Played in the slot as well. Benjamin Morrison didnt stand out as much. Young group that should improve next season.

 

Cap Overview

This is where things get weird…. so Baker’s cap hit isn’t consistent based off of reporting. He was given a $30m roster bonus and was given guaranteed money. It’s disputed if the bonus is prorated and spread out or just all hits in 2026. This is the difference between a $39m cap hit (OverTheCap) or $51m (Spotrac). Im going to roll with the Overthecap number, as you can probably restructure the bonus anyways and that's something the team might do. 

With that being said, entering the year with about $24m in cap space. There are 6 players with cap hits over $20m and other major cap hits to deal with. We can make some space with them, but a few of those major deals have massive void years for the future. How much money do we want to borrow for the future?

Pre Free Agency Moves

Cuts

none

Restructure

NT Vita Vea

OT Tristan Wirfs

These players contracts are easy to restructure. Vea let’s us decide on extending him or letting him walk next season as he’ll have a manageable  $10m void year. Wirfs deal lasts a long time, and we are not going to get rid of him anytime soon, give him more security and lower his hit this year.

Tender

QB Connor Bazalek ERFA

LS Evan Deckers ERFA

Resign

IDL Logan Hall 3/$27m $14m g

TE Cade Otton 3/$30m $15m g

RB Sean Tucker 1/m

Blocker Ko Kieft 1/m

Sean Tucker comes back as the RB3. Ko Kieft, one of the best run blockers returns after missing the whole season. Logan Hall comes back on a solid deal for a starter/quality rotational player. A 3-4 DE who helps the defense out. Cade Otton gets a sizable deal. For a weapon, he is the only other dude on a major contract. Gets a solid pay day for being a solid starter who can play heavy snaps and in line.

Let Walk

WR Mike Evans

LB Lavonte David

CB Jamal Dean

Edge Haason Reddick

NT Greg Gaines

RB Rachaad White

These players are either very old/passed their prime, or rotational players who are not a priority to keep. It’s time to let the franchise legends Lavonte David and Mike Evans go. Both players are not what they used to be, and it’s getting harder to justify paying top dollar for sentimental value. Dean and Reddick are older players who we can get younger with. Gaines and White are replaceable rotational guys.

Offseason

Basic Plan

Need a backup QB, would rather get a younger backup in the draft and then we can get a veteran one during preseason if we need to.

RB/WR/TE is a position that we are fine with, but we do need that gameplan player. The type of player that defenses will gameplan against or stress defenses. It was Mike and the run game overall. We have solid units and some depth. But to get that high quality player have to spend a lot of capital to acquire….. unless it is a RB…..

OL mainly needs depth especially at swing OT and someone to compete for a G spot with Bredeson.

Edge/LB are in a similar boat. This is a spot where we can get that high end player to change our defense. But at the very least we need another starter badly.

IDL is good where it’s at, mainly need NT depth

Secondary can also use depth and STers

Free Agency

Edge Jaelan Phillips 4/$108m $68m G

RB Breece Hall 3/$40m $22m G

LB Leo Chenal 3/$27m $15m G

LB Deion Jones 1/m

CB Michael Davis 1/m

Oh yeah, Licht isn’t playing around now. Have to imagine the Bucs get very aggressive after a down year. Deion and Davis depth/ST. Leo Chenal value might not be as high as we think because he was a more limited player for the Chiefs, and it is a bit of a projection to make him a full time starter. Many LBs have done it before. At the very least he helps all assets of the defense. He can line up everywhere, is a physical run defender, legit blitzer/stunter, can rush/spy, and is solid in coverage. Mainly helps out with pass rush and run defense.

Breece Hall can be that player that stresses defenses. Adding him to a run game that should be much improved will be dangerous. Talented runner who is a great outlet in the pass game. It’s much easier/cheaper getting this gameplan stressor at RB then other positions.

Jaelan Phillips…. I think this team will be very aggressive in acquiring an edge. The pass rush was anemic when Kancey went down. They tried to get another legit pass rushing compliment with Reddick, but he struggled as the main pass rusher. Phillips is a great player, very athletic and fluid. Gets pressures very easily, doesn’t finish sacks at a high level, but maybe the overall DL can help him out there. He can stunt at a high level and has gotten better at containing and using speed to power.

Draft

Kayden Mcdonald fits the run defense needed, doesn't have to be forced into a starting role but can make an impact and eventually replace Vea.

Josiah Trotter a solid LB who we dont have to force to be a starter right away but can replace Dennis sooner than later.

Gennings Dunker a PFF favorite, mainly want him to compete at G but can play OT in a pinch.

Insert QB, backup QBs always cost a lot to get, so insert your favorite one here

Vinny Anthony has that returner and YAC ability.

Ethan Burke is a budget Logan Hall

Random CB dart throw

All in all use the draft to supplement the team, no real major needs to fill. Can get rotational players who can develop into starters. 

Preseason

Here is the new look Bucs team. Much improved and ready to take on the NFC South. I do like the future a lot more. Way more younger talent. Have about $8m in money for in season moves. Can sign a swing OT, veteran backup QB or another backup. A few rooms have players who are potential cap casualties like Anthony Nelson. Neat team