Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay has $27.9M (rank 17 of 32) in room now, but with 24 expiring contracts and a projected negative $2.9M (rank 26 of 32) next year, the financial runway is shorter than it looks.

24 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Four starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Seven picks this season, all spread across every round, plus three first-rounders in the three-year window gives Tampa Bay real ammunition to address its roster holes in a single aggressive offseason.

The roster's top strength is its offensive line, headlined by two 90-plus overall tackles in Wirfs and Goedeke, while its weakest spot is tight end, where the depth ranks 31st leaguewide behind a starter ranked 28th.

• MIKEhigh

  The starting MIKE is Josiah Trotter, ranked 28th among starters leaguewide, making middle linebacker the most urgent upgrade on the roster.

• TEhigh

  Cade Otton starts at tight end but ranks 28th among starters and the depth behind him is historically thin at 31st leaguewide, making TE a two-deep problem.

• WRmedium

  Chris Godwin Jr. leads a receiver room ranked 26th among starters, and while Emeka Egbuka provides a long-term answer, an additional weapon is needed now.

• CBlow

  Zyon McCollum starts opposite a young cornerback group that ranks 22nd leaguewide, leaving the position a secondary concern that still warrants depth investment.

• LEDGElow

  Rueben Bain Jr. is the starter but the position ranks 22nd leaguewide, and the depth behind him is thin enough that adding a veteran edge presence makes sense.

• LGlow

  Ben Bredeson starts at left guard at 74 overall, ranking the position 21st leaguewide and flagging it as a quiet interior line weakness worth addressing.

• 67Miles KillebrewSSMiles Killebrew is the third safety on the depth chart at 67 overall, entering the twilight of his career, and releasing him frees $1.3M against only $490K in dead money.Frees $1.3M · $490.0K dead
• 74Anthony NelsonREDGEAnthony Nelson is the second REDGE behind Yaya Diaby at 74 overall with no development upside, and cutting him frees $4.0M against $1.4M in dead money, the largest net savings among all cut candidates.Frees $4.0M · $1.4M dead
• 69Rakeem Nunez-Roches SrDTRakeem Nunez-Roches Sr is in the twilight of his career at 69 overall and sits third on the defensive tackle depth chart, and his release costs nothing in dead money while freeing $1.3M.Frees $1.3M · $0 dead
• 68Dan FeeneyCDan Feeney is a twilight-aged backup center and third-string guard at 68 overall, and releasing him frees $1.3M against only $180K in dead money.Frees $1.3M · $180.0K dead
• 71Sean TuckerHBSean Tucker is the third halfback at 71 overall with no development trait, and releasing him frees $3.5M with zero dead money, making it a clean savings move.Frees $3.5M · $0 dead

Tampa Bay enters this franchise window as a team caught between competing and rebuilding. Baker Mayfield provides a capable, Superstar-trait quarterback to keep the offense functional, and Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke give him elite protection on both edges. Bucky Irving is a 24-year-old Superstar who can be the offensive centerpiece for years, and Emeka Egbuka at 23 with a Star dev trait gives the passing game a genuine long-term weapon at receiver. Antoine Winfield Jr. anchors a strong secondary, and Vita Vea, despite entering the later stage of his career, remains the most dominant interior defender on the roster. The concerns are real, though: the team carries no reliable tight end, the middle linebacker position is one of the weakest in the league, and the cap turns negative next season at negative $2.9M (rank 26 of 32) with 24 expiring contracts adding urgency to every offseason decision. Chris Godwin Jr. and Al-Quadin Muhammad are contributors whose best years are behind them, and the dead cap sitting at $11.8M (rank 24 of 32) limits immediate flexibility. With seven picks this season, all falling in the first round through the full seven-round spread, there is real ammunition to address the holes, but the franchise will require disciplined roster management to push past moderate contention into a genuine championship window.

The Buccaneers were born as an NFL expansion team in 1976, awarded to Tampa, Florida under original owner Hugh Culverhouse and dropped into the AFC West for a single season before moving to the NFC Central in 1977. The beginning was historically brutal: Tampa Bay lost all 14 games in 1976 and the first 12 of 1977, 26 straight defeats, still the longest season-spanning losing streak to open a franchise in NFL history, while wearing the orange "creamsicle" uniforms and the winking-pirate "Bucco Bruce" logo that became cult icons. Coached by John McKay and led by first-ever draft pick Lee Roy Selmon and young quarterback Doug Williams, the Bucs reached the 1979 NFC Championship Game in just their fourth season. From 1983 through 1996 Tampa Bay endured 14 consecutive non-winning seasons, cycling through coaches and high draft picks. Everything changed when Tony Dungy arrived in 1996 and installed the "Tampa 2" defense, building around Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, and Ronde Barber. Jon Gruden, acquired in a blockbuster 2002 trade, put them over the top, and that defense throttled the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII for the franchise's first championship (2002 season). The team rebranded to its pewter-and-red identity in 1997 and opened Raymond James Stadium that same year. A second title came a generation later: the 2020 signing of Tom Brady, paired with head coach Bruce Arians, produced an immediate championship in Super Bowl LV, 31-9 over the Kansas City Chiefs, the first team ever to play and win a Super Bowl in its own home stadium. The Brady era gave way to the Baker Mayfield years under Todd Bowles, who guided the Bucs to four consecutive NFC South titles (2021-2024) before the streak snapped in 2025.