{"id":647541,"date":"2026-01-02T07:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T07:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647541\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T07:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T07:30:27","slug":"bucs-not-eager-to-pay-hc-todd-bowles-buyout-oc-josh-grizzard-in-jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647541\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucs Not Eager To Pay HC Todd Bowles’ Buyout; OC Josh Grizzard In Jeopardy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Connor Byrne<\/a> |
\n at January 1, 2026 1:44 pm<\/p>\n

It would have been difficult to imagine at the midpoint of the season, but the Buccaneers will enter Week 18 fighting for their playoff lives. Once 6-2, the 7-9 Buccaneers will face the 8-8 Panthers on Saturday with the NFC South and a postseason berth at stake.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the Buccaneers\u2019 second-half disintegration, a report<\/a> last Sunday indicated head coach Todd Bowles is not in jeopardy of losing his job. The Buccaneers then dropped their fourth straight game, a 20-17 decision against the Dolphins, potentially turning up the heat on Bowles.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown whether ownership will reverse course on Bowles if the Buccaneers complete their collapse and miss the postseason. While the Buccaneers have managed a so-so 34-33 record in almost four full seasons under Bowles, the 62-year-old has earned some leeway from ownership after guiding the team to three straight division titles.<\/p>\n

Last July, several months after Bowles completed his first 10-win season in Tampa Bay, the Bucs extended him<\/a> through 2028. The deal includes a \u201chefty\u201d buyout, which the team \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem overly eager to pay,\u201d Jeremy Fowler of ESPN<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Bowles\u2019 extension could save him, but changes to his coaching staff are on the table, according to Fowler. Specifically, there are questions centering on first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who worked as the Bucs\u2019 pass game coordinator in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers finished last year third in total offense and fourth in scoring under OC Liam Coen, but he left to take the Jaguars\u2019 head coaching job. Now leading a 12-4 Jacksonville team that looks like a Super Bowl contender, Coen figures to garner Coach of the Year votes. With Coen gone, Tampa Bay\u2019s offense has plummeted to 22nd in yardage and 18th in points. While that doesn\u2019t reflect well on the 35-year-old Grizzard, it would be unfair to place all the blame on him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although quarterback Baker Mayfield<\/a> is on track for a third straight 17-game season, the Buccaneers\u2019 offense has endured several injuries to major contributors. Wide receivers Mike Evans<\/a>, Chris Godwin<\/a> and Jalen McMillan<\/a> have combined to miss 30 games. Running back Bucky Irving<\/a> has sat out seven, and his production when healthy has paled in comparison to his rookie output from 2024. That may have something to do with an offensive line that hasn\u2019t been at full strength.<\/p>\n

Center Graham Barton<\/a> has played every offensive snap, but the rest of the unit hasn\u2019t been as fortunate. Right guard Cody Mauch<\/a> suffered a season-ending knee injury<\/a> in Week 2, fellow guard Ben Bredeson<\/a> has been on IR with a knee injury<\/a> since Dec. 9, and cornerstone tackles Tristan Wirfs<\/a> and Luke Goedeke<\/a> have missed sizable chunks of time. Wirfs has played 11 games to Goedeke\u2019s 10.<\/p>\n

Both Wirfs (toe) and Goedeke (ankle) have been limited in practice this week, but they\u2019re not on the Buccaneers\u2019 final injury report<\/a>. That\u2019s good news for Bowles and Grizzard as they prepare for a must-win game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Connor Byrne | at January 1, 2026 1:44 pm It would have been difficult to imagine at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,14916,6,704,250,2597,2596,7763],"class_list":{"0":"post-647541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-josh-grizzard","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-tampa-bay","13":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","14":"tag-tampabay","15":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers","16":"tag-todd-bowles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115824337628656613","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}