Kick 'Em Out 2025: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may face some rough seas after a sterling start gave way to winter heartbreak.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over.

With a little help from Willie Nelson, former NFL quarterback and narrator Don Meredith would routinely herald closing time before it was cool on the original editions of Monday Night Football. Alas for all but one of football’s 32 finest, it’s over before the desired Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist, as the season, or at least the championship-contending portion of it, has come to an end.

With that in mind, TeamFB7 goes over the season that was for the fallen, looking at what was, what is, and what could be. The heartbreak continues with the next entry on our list, which features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers …

Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks off the field after losing to the Miami Dolphins 20-17 at Hard Rock Stadium on December 28, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. — Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Record: 8-9
Date of Playoff Death: Jan. 4
Last Playoff Season: 2024

What Went Wrong

After a sterling start, the Buccaneers ventured way off course into a squall that sank their playoff chances.

Unlike New England, Tampa Bay had mostly avoided a post-Tom Brady malaise thanks to Baker Mayfield efficiently sliding into his role and taking advantage of both a decent inheritance and a meandering NFC South. The Buccaneers seemed well-positioned to assume command on the NFC’s high seas with a 6-2 start, one partly defined by a thrilling 38-35 triumph over the future champion Seattle Seahawks back on Oct. 5.

From there, however, Tampa dropped seven of its final nine after several of its major men couldn’t avoid sick bay.

It’s hard to say exactly which departure affected them the most: the extended departures of several skill players was dangerous enough, to the point where even Mike Evans’ immaculate streak of four-digit yardage seasons (keeping him tied with Jerry Rice for the longest all-time such streak at 11) wasn’t safe.

Losing Evans was bad enough and would’ve derailed even the most hopeful of cases, but the Bucs also had to work without Chris Godwin, Bucky Irving, and Jalen McMillan for extended periods. While not apparent at first, the team also clearly suffered when blocker Cody Mauch was placed on injured reserve after Week 2, joining the early lack of Tristan Wirfs.

A frustrated Mike Evans after the Bucs lose 29-28 to the Falcons.

Evans finished with six catches for 132 yards. pic.twitter.com/p8XVQ5zmQs
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) December 12, 2025

But the ultimate sins may stand with the Bucs left behind: even with the early ailments, Tampa Bay managed to put up several statement victories but they lost their clutch sense and discipline as the season pressed forward. The Buccaneers lost five one-possession games in the last half of the season and none of their last four losses came by more than four points.

Though understandably pressed without some of his weapons, Mayfield fell back into old reckless habits by losing 11 turnovers over the last eight games. The Bucs seemingly had assurance in run stopping but that was partly done in when they lost Calijah Kancey on the front seven (again) while the secondary, which saw only three players earn multiples interceptions (paced by three from Jamel Dean) struggled to make any significant progress.

While Mayfield has done reasonably well in the role of Brady successor (to the point where he was getting legitimate MVP consideration after the first stanzas of the season), Tampa has struggled to replace its other recent ghosts. That concept is particularly prevalent on defense, as the offense at its best has served as only temporary relief from the continued mourning of departures like Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Devin White. It got to the point, in fact, where Pierre-Paul was brought back after a year away from the field, playing three games as the defensive situation became increasingly desperate.

Even a season-closing win came with no consolation: the swoon swiped destiny out of their hands and rendered them spectators for their divisional title fate. Tiebreakers allowed a Week 18 Atlanta win over New Orleans to turn the deed and the playoff spot that came with it over to Carolina — whom the Buccaneers had just defeated in their own bittersweet finale.

Silver Linings

— Tampa Bay clearly didn’t do enough to upgrade its defense but found offensive/big-play bliss in Emeka Egbuka’s draft arrival, which was originally viewed with some confusion considering the retained historic talents. Originally envisioned as a slot option, Egbuka quickly became the Bucs’ top target and responded well to his instant field promotion by placing second in freshman receiving yards.

“Emeka Egbuka down there somewhere” 🚀 pic.twitter.com/CY5YaIdpue
— PFF (@PFF) October 8, 2025

While he wasn’t immune from the late-season struggles, he creates a solid benchmark for the Tampa offense to follow as it tries to advance to a new level. While far from fully realized, the Bucs may have found some hidden defensive gems to join Egbuka on days two and three, including Benjamin Morrison, Jacob Parrish, and Elijah Roberts.

— Perhaps it was a dangerous harbinger of what was to come, but the accomplished Tampa offense endured a blow before the season in the form of Wirfs undergoing knee surgery that kept him out for the first three games of the year. From there, however, Wirfs missed just six snaps over the rest of the tour and and finally jumped into the box score with a receiving touchdown. Wirfs was rewarded with his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance and offered pure, if not gritty, justification for the nine-figure extension he obtained in the summer of 2024.

Looking Ahead

Notable Free Agents: LB Lavonte David, CB Jamel Dean, OG Dan Feeney, DT Greg Gaines, LB WR Mike Evans, OT Charlie Heck, LG Michael Jordan, TE Cade Otton, EDGE Haason Reddick, WR Sterling Shepard, RB Sean Tucker, CB Kindle Vildor, RB Rachaad White

Potential Cap Cuts: CB Antoine Winfield Jr. ($19.5 million*), DT Vita Vea ($18 million*), LB Anthony Nelson ($4.5 million), K Chase McLaughlin ($3.8 million), LB SirVocea Dennis ($3.6 million), EDGE YaYa Diaby ($3.6 million), RT Cody Mauch ($3.5 million), P Riley Dixon ($3 million)

(*—post-June 1)

Tampa Bay staged a mini-mutiny on the coaching staff once the seas calmed: captain Todd Bowles has been granted a fifth season at the helm but several assistants (headlined by offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard) were made to walk the plank. Grizzard’s case is particularly glaring: the Bucs have seen plenty of coaching turnover in the spot, as three of his four successors (Dave Canales, Liam Coen, Todd Monken) are now head coaches, while Grizzard himself was let go after one year.

Tampa Bay is keeping things in the family, literally and figuratively, when it comes to their replacements: Bowles, who continues to hold double duty as de factor defensive coordinator, brought in his son Todd Jr. as a defensive assistant while former Los Angeles Rams offensive master Zac Robinson, who helped Mayfield resurrect his career out west before defecting from divisional foe Atlanta.

“I’m hoping and praying [Mike Evans] comes back. He’s been a Buc his whole life. He’s done so much for the city and the team of Tampa Bay that it’s unmistakable. … But he’s earned the right to look around in free agency.”

—Todd Bowles on Mike Evans’ future in Tampa Bay 🏈… pic.twitter.com/BRNPvXTlph
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 24, 2026

Equally intriguing under Robinson is what he can do with the rushing attack after his success in turning Bijan Robinson into one of the top backfield dual-threats and Tyler Allgeier into a suitable scoring complement. That could lead the Bucs into plundering the free agents market with Tucker (restricted) and White potentially up for grabs.

It was easy to bid farewell to several one-year headset wearers but Tampa has major decisions to make on the fates of franchise faces David and Evans. For now, it appears that the duo is being granted its space but the way the struggles on each side of the ball (particularly with the way the offense suffered sans Evans) suggests that there’s still a place for each of them. That shouldn’t prevent the Bucs from making some more immediate changes, particularly on the defensive side.

If the Bucs are truly going to stick with Bowles at the helm, defensive improvements better be the name of the game. Passing on Derrick Harmon, who became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ top rookie, at last year’s draft was understandable in the name of selecting Egbuka 19th overall last spring. But when and the secondary is letting up 30 aerial scores a season and units from a blitz master such as Bowles post pressure numbers in the bottom third of the league (i.e. 25th in hurry and pressure rate all while being fourth in blitz percentage), such ignorance won’t be as forgiving. The Buccaneers are scheduled to pick 15th in this spring’s draft, their highest selection since obtaining Wirfs with 2020’s 13th choice.

Is There Hope?

With the amount of talent that the Buccaneers have stacked up, there has to be, especially in an NFC quartet where a losing record gains postseason entry. But it’s clear that the rest of the South has caught up to them. Whether that says more about the Bucs or their divisional brethren remains to be seen but that’s the course that has been set.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws a pass during the Regular Season game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 30, 2025 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. — Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Again, Tampa never had to visit the downed depths that the Patriots had to experience after Brady left but there’s still a bitter taste of mediocrity in their mouths. They haven’t won more than 10 games since 2021 and have but one playoff win in that span, so that hints at issues even when things are relatively peachy. At some point there needs to be a leap from the Mayfield era, which is inching toward a potential extension.

Other sides in the division getting their respective acts together (i.e. Carolina sneaking in, Atlanta finding Robinson, New Orleans inching toward offensive bliss) should prove to the Buccaneers that their honeymoon is over and the time for developments on the field is over. A fateful offseason awaits Bowles and general manager Jason Licht, one where a new course will have to be charted … one with potentially familiar faces if David and/or Evans are retained.