“After Speaking To The Glazers”
February 13th, 2026
Two members of Team Glazer.
It’s downright rare to hear a reporter talk about chatting with Team Glazer during a season unless it was part of a Buccaneers Ring of Honor event.
The Bucs owners are known for avoiding media during an NFL season like Joe avoids lima beans, warm beer and NBA preseason games.
So Joe’s ears perked up hearing Rob Maaddi on WDAE radio this week. Maaddi is the chief NFL writer for the Associated Press. He’s an important guy in NFL media, one who reaches loads of fans nationwide. Maaddi also happens to reside in the Tampa Bay area and he spends a healthy share of time at One Buc Palace.
“…After speaking to the Glazers during the season at some point and pointing out how Tony Dungy was revered in this organization yet he was fired, Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl yet he was fired, I thought [the Bucs] were going to head in that direction [with Todd Bowles,]” Maaddi said.
“Instead, they blew up half of the coaching staff, which means that Todd Bowles is entering this season on a hot seat.”
Joe is not going to read between lines, but it certainly was an intriguing by Maaddi, who was not asked about the Bucs retaining Bowles; he was asked about the Bucs’ next moves given the 2026 pressure on Bowles and general manager Jason Licht.
Maaddi went on to say Bowles didn’t have enough talent and the Bucs desperately need an elite pass rusher.
“What bringing back Todd Bowles tells me is ownership understood that they can’t blame this entirely on the head coach when he didn’t have the pieces on the roster,” Maaddi said.
Joe understands the sentiment, but Joe cannot buy that the Bucs didn’t have enough talent to close out the Falcons in December, or to beat the Panthers 10 days later — or to compete with the tanking Dolphins in Miami after that. That doesn’t add up. And if it was a talent issue, then why dump a hearty pile of assistant coaches?
