The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gotten off to a decent start to their offseason, signing players who can add solid depth to both the offense and the defense. However, some rumors have come that the Bucs have aggressively scouted the depth of the 2026 draft class as well. While they haven’t made many big moves in free agency, they certainly could find some hidden depth in a draft class with a lot of talent in it.
Bucs GM Jason Licht understands that as of right now, there is a lot of money committed to key players on the roster, therefore leaving little margin for error in both the rest of the offseason and especially the draft. For Licht, that may mean taking risks that could pay off in the draft.
Licht focused on draft value over splash moves
“This draft matches with what our needs are very well,” Licht said. “Now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be assured to get one of those players. It can be a little bit of a daunting task. You never know when your players that you like are going to be taken, but it does match up well”, Licht said of how the Bucs could begin to look at the draft.
That means that it could end up being like last year when the Bucs selected Emeka Egbuka despite not necessarily facing a need for wide receiver.
The reason for the Bucs’ need to nail the draft is because they are running out of ways to find more cost controlled talent. Up and down the roster, money is committed to key players, with more still waiting to extend. In fact, there is no bigger extension looming over the Bucs than Baker Mayfield’s.
Why Licht must balance contracts and young talent
While Mayfield is currently earning around 33.3 million dollars right now, next year could see a major bump in that number, potentially upwards of 50 million dollars. That means that the 2026 draft is where the Bucs may have to commit a lot of resources to.
“When you have a quarterback on a second or third contract, when you’ve got some other players — I’m not saying they’re limiting what we can do at all,” Licht added. “We’re very happy that we have them, but you need to bring in young players who can help. We’ve had a lot of success lately with the draft. We’re signing a lot of our own players, which is why we’re in that position and that’s the goal. So, you want to keep drafting well”.
While drafting well is easier said than done, so is making the franchise-altering moves that Licht had predicted for the Bucs before the offseason. Now that that period has come adn gone without the Bucs making a splash, it us up to the draft to determine how the Bucs will end up looking not just in the short-term, but the long-term future.
For the Bucs, as long as they are willing to draft as well as possible, they can continue to build up a roster that needs a little bit of change.
Christopher Sheppard Christopher Sheppard is a passionate and knowledgeable sports journalist based in Englewood, NJ pursuing a role in the sports media industry. He covers the NFL for Heavy Sports, focusing on the Dolphins, Chargers, and Buccanneers. More about Christopher Sheppard
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