There are now only 11 Sundays remaining between now and when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off their season against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 13.
Let’s take a look at 11 storylines that will define the Bucs’ season.
11 Storylines That Will Define Bucs’ Season
The Buccaneers are coming off an 8-9 season. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Last year, Tampa Bay stormed out to a 6-2 start before finishing the season 2-7. They scuffled in December, losing all four games in Santa’s favorite month. Their poor second half resulted in their six-year playoff appearance streak and five-year NFC South championship streak being snapped.
Now the Bucs will look to bounce back in 2026. Without further ado, let’s get to the storylines that will make or break Tampa Bay’s season.
1. Is Todd Bowles ready to take the Bucs to the next level?
After Tampa Bay’s late-season struggles, the chatter around Todd Bowles’ job security got loud.
A large number of fans and local media outlets were calling for Bowles’ head, but at the end of the day he got the green light for another season from the Glazer family.
The Bucs’ late-season slide did not go unpunished. Tampa Bay made a number of staff changes around Bowles. The Bucs will have a new offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, defensive backs coach, defensive line coach and safeties coach in 2026.
Bowles is 35-33 in the regular season and has led the Bucs to just one playoff win in four seasons at the helm.
The 2026 season will likely be a do-or-die year for Bowles’ future as Bucs head coach, and he has decided to remain the team’s defensive playcaller.
Bowles has been the Bucs’ defensive playcaller since 2019, including all four of his seasons as head coach. Last season, Tampa Bay ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense. The Bucs specifically struggled against the pass, ranking 27th in passing yards allowed. Their defense struggled to prevent opponents from creating explosive plays throughout the season.
2. Can Baker Mayfield have a big season in a contract year?
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield had his worst season as a starter in pewter and red.
He posted his fewest passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage and yards per completion as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback in 2025. He failed to reach 200 passing yards in seven of 17 starts.
While Mayfield is likely looking for a bounce-back season, the plot thickens. He is entering the final season of the three-year, $100 million extension he signed after the 2023 season.
He has already stated that he and the Bucs are not close on negotiations for a new contract extension. Mayfield’s representatives will not take part in negotiations after Tampa Bay’s training camp begins in late July, meaning he will likely be playing for a major extension in 2026.
If Mayfield can tap back into his 2024 form, when he set career highs and ranked inside the NFL’s top seven in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage, he could set himself up for a huge payday.
3. Can Zac Robinson produce the best Tampa Bay offense has to offer?
Zac Robinson was hired as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator after spending one season as the playcaller for the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta averaged 20.8 points per game last season. The Falcons finished eighth in the NFL in rushing offense. Robinson and the Falcons dealt with inconsistent quarterback play throughout 2025 from Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins.
Last season, the Bucs were led by first-year playcaller Josh Grizzard. Tampa Bay averaged 22.4 points per game and finished outside the NFL’s top 20 in both passing and rushing yards. Grizzard was let go following the season.
Robinson has some similarities to former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who helped Tampa Bay field a top-five offense in 2024. Both Coen and Robinson spent multiple seasons under Sean McVay for the Los Angeles Rams. Both were on the Rams’ coaching staff in 2022 and worked with Mayfield during his brief stint with the team.
The coaches share similar offensive schemes, and the Bucs hope Robinson’s system can elevate the offense back into the league’s upper tier.
4. Is Reuben Bain Jr. a game-changing player for the Bucs defense?
The Bucs selected the Miami edge rusher with the 15th overall pick in the draft.
Many people praised the pick, citing Reuben Bain Jr.’s position in mock drafts as being higher than the No. 15 pick where he ultimately was selected.
Bain Jr. totaled 20.5 regular-season sacks in his three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes. He won ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2025 after totaling 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss during the regular season.
Bain Jr. also had a monster College Football Playoff, recording five sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss during Miami’s run to the national championship game and eventual loss to Indiana.
The Bucs are hoping Bain Jr. can help their defense produce more quarterback pressure and sacks. Tampa Bay finished 18th in the NFL in sacks despite blitzing the third-most of any team in the league.
The Bucs have not had a player reach double-digit sacks since Shaquil Barrett did it in 2021.
Tampa Bay’s lack of quarterback pressure was a huge factor in its struggles against the pass. The Bucs are hoping Bain Jr. can help change the outlook of their defense in 2026.
5. How will the Bucs’ wide receiver room look without Mike Evans?
Watching the Bucs on Sundays without No. 13 lining up on offense will take some getting used to for football fans around the country.
Mike Evans played 12 seasons in Tampa Bay. He recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first 11 years. However, Evans did not reach that mark last season after being limited to eight games because of injury.
The Bucs may be better prepared for Evans’ departure than some might think. Tampa Bay’s wide receiver room is still more than capable of being one of the league’s best.
Receiver Emeka Egbuka will be entering his second season in the league. He had 63 receptions for 938 yards and six touchdowns last season, all of which ranked second among rookies.
Chris Godwin will now be the grizzled veteran of Tampa Bay’s receiver room. He enters his 10th NFL season in 2026.
The biggest thing for Godwin is health. He missed the beginning of last season while recovering from a significant lower-body injury suffered during the 2024 season. Godwin finished with 360 receiving yards in nine games, but he will look for a bigger season as he enters training camp fully healthy.
Jalen McMillan also had a season hampered by injuries, appearing in just four games because of a neck injury suffered during the preseason. However, during his rookie season, McMillan recorded 461 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games while averaging 12.5 yards per reception.
Rookie Ted Hurst and second-year receiver Tez Johnson will also be in position to make a big impact on the Bucs’ offense.
Can the Bucs’ receivers stay healthy and take big enough developmental leaps to make up for Evans’ lost production?
6. Can Bucky Irving’s return jolt the Bucs into becoming a top rushing offense?
Bucky Irving played in only 10 games last season because of ankle and shoulder injuries.
His absence was a key factor in the Bucs’ rushing offense declining in 2025. Tampa Bay ranked 22nd in the NFL in rushing yards after finishing fourth in 2024.
Irving’s rookie season was a key cog in the Bucs’ rushing success in 2024. He rushed for 1,112 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
Even after returning to the field last season, injuries continued to affect him. Irving finished with 588 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown and an average of 3.4 yards per carry.
He underwent shoulder surgery in February but has participated in individual drills throughout organized team activities and minicamp over the past several weeks.
Irving’s health and subsequent production, combined with a new offensive coordinator and a healthier offensive line, could help jolt the Bucs’ offense back into one of the league’s best units.
7. How will the Bucs’ inside linebacker corps shape up?
For the first time since 2011, the Bucs will not have Lavonte David lining up on defense. The franchise legend retired this offseason, leaving Tampa Bay’s off-ball linebacker group looking very different.
With David gone, free-agent acquisition Alex Anzalone will be the Bucs’ “green dot” player, meaning he will wear the helmet communicator and relay defensive calls from Bowles before the snap.
Anzalone recorded 92 tackles in 16 games while patrolling the middle of Detroit’s defense last season. He ranked among the NFL’s top 25 linebackers in coverage, a welcome sight for a Bucs defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in receiving yards allowed to running backs and tight ends.
Tampa Bay will also look to get immediate contributions from second-round pick Josaiah Trotter. The former Missouri linebacker recorded 84 tackles and 13 tackles for loss en route to first-team All-SEC honors last season.
Trotter excelled against the run and as a pass rusher during his college career.
The Bucs will also look for contributions from returning linebacker SirVocea Dennis. The 2023 draft pick completed his first full season as a starter last year and finished with 92 tackles and four sacks.
However, Dennis struggled in coverage and received a grade in the 30s from Pro Football Focus when targeted by opposing quarterbacks.
Another potential contributor to the Bucs’ linebacker corps is free-agent acquisition Christian Rozeboom, who recorded 122 tackles last season with Carolina.
Solid play from Tampa Bay’s linebackers will be a key storyline for the success of the Bucs’ defense.
8. Will the Bucs be able to stay healthy for the majority of the season?
This is a storyline for all 32 teams heading into the season.
However, the Bucs saw numerous key players miss extended periods of time last season.
The Bucs were particularly impacted by injuries in the trenches. Four of Tampa Bay’s five starting offensive linemen missed multiple games last season. On defense, starting defensive lineman Calijah Kancey missed 14 games, leaving a significant hole up front.
Along with Irving’s missed time, several key players in Tampa Bay’s skill-position group were either sidelined or forced to play through injuries. McMillan and Godwin both missed time, while Mayfield and Egbuka played multiple games while dealing with injuries.
If the Bucs can stay healthier on both sides of the ball, they could see significant improvement on the field in 2026.
9. Will Vita Vea’s contract dispute have an impact on the Bucs’ defense?
During the Bucs’ mandatory minicamp last week, Vita Vea was a hold-in and did not participate in drills.
Vea’s representatives are seeking a restructured contract before the 2026 season begins. ESPN analyst Booger McFarland reported there was no tension between the Bucs and Vea, making it seem unlikely that the veteran defensive tackle will miss games because of the dispute.
However, if Vea were to miss time, it would be a significant blow to Tampa Bay’s defense.
Vea has been the anchor of the Bucs’ defense for the past eight seasons. He has helped Tampa Bay field top-five rushing defenses in six of the past eight years and has also established himself as one of the NFL’s premier pass-rushing nose tackles, finishing among the league leaders in sacks at the position over the past two seasons.
How this situation progresses will be one of the biggest storylines surrounding the Bucs’ defense in 2026.
10. Can the Bucs avoid a midseason losing streak?
In each of the past three seasons, the Bucs have gotten off to strong starts, opening 3-1 in both 2023 and 2024 before starting 6-2 in 2025.
However, those strong starts were erased by four-game losing streaks in each season.
In 2023 and 2024, those skids came during October. In 2025, the collapse came later in the year as Tampa Bay’s season unraveled down the stretch.
Regardless of when those losing streaks occurred, they transformed what looked like 10- to 12-win seasons into campaigns that hovered around .500.
If Bowles wants to take the next step as a head coach, his team will need to avoid another debilitating losing streak in 2026.
11. Will Jason Licht go all-in if the Bucs are in contention?
Jason Licht has made only one in-season trade acquisition during his 12 seasons as the Bucs’ general manager.
That move came in 2020, when Tampa Bay acquired defensive tackle Steve McLendon for a seventh-round pick. The Bucs went on to win the Super Bowl that season.
Licht has only traded first-round picks as part of draft-day maneuvering during his tenure. The highest draft pick he has ever traded away specifically to acquire a player was a third-round selection in 2018, when he landed edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul.
Licht has developed a reputation for holding onto draft capital, but would he be willing to make a move if a key hole emerged on a contending roster?
The Bucs will likely need to get off to an excellent start before the Nov. 3 trade deadline for Licht to seriously consider taking that approach.
Main Photo Courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck – Imagn Images
