2026 NFL Draft Team Needs & Predictions: Buccaneers

The middle of Round 1 is where the draft truly starts to bend.

Picks 13 through 16 often belong to competitive teams — but this year, trade activity has reshaped the order. The Los Angeles Rams and New York Jets currently control selections in this range, yet for the purpose of evaluating roster construction and long-term outlooks, we’ll focus on the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts alongside the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This is a fascinating tier.

These aren’t TOTAL bottom-feeders. These are organizations with defined identities — some pushing for deep playoff runs, others trying to break through after trading first-round picks last season. But each has clear pressure points on the roster.

For contenders like Baltimore and Tampa Bay, this is about sustaining a window. For Atlanta and Indianapolis, it’s about accelerating one and overcoming the lack of first-round draft capital (and injured starting QBs).

The margin for error shrinks here. Reach too far for need, and you miss out on value. Sit back and draft purely on talent, and you risk ignoring a glaring weakness. Add in looming extensions and future cap decisions, and these picks become as strategic as they are impactful.

In this batch, we break down:

The biggest roster holes for each franchise
Contract situations and future cap implications
Which positions should be prioritized for veterans and rookies
Potential fantasy football implications

This is the range where good teams separate themselves from great ones — and where smart roster management pays off.

Up next: the Atlanta Falcons (via Rams selection), the Baltimore Ravens, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Indianapolis Colts (via Jets selection).

Salary cap contract information provided by Spotrac.

2026 NFL Draft Team Needs & Predictions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Team Needs: EDGE, CB, WR, LB

2026 Free Agent Key Losses:

WR Mike Evans, CB Jamel Dean, CB Kindle Vildor, DT Logan Hall, RB Rachaad White

2026 Free Agents:

QB: Teddy Bridgewater, Connor Bazelak (ERFA)
RB: Sean Tucker (RFA)
WR: Sterling Shepard
TE: Ko Kieft
OL: RT Charlie Heck, G Michael Jordan, LT Tyler McLellan (ERFA)
EDGE: Haason Reddick, Markees Watts (RFA)
DL: Greg Gaines
LB: Lavonte David, Anthony Walker Jr., Deion Jones
S: J.T. Gray, Christian Izien (RFA)
ST: Riley Dixon (CLUB), Evan Deckers (ERFA)

2027 Free Agents:

QB: Baker Mayfield
WR: Chris Godwin (CLUB), Kameron Johnson (RFA)
TE: Payne Durham
OL: G Luke Haggard (ERFA), C Dan Feeney,
EDGE: Anthony Nelson, Yaya Diaby, Benton Whitley, Al-Quadin Muhammed
DL: A’Shawn Robinson, Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey (CLUB), Elijah Simmons (ERFA)
LB: SirVocea Dennis
CB: Damarion Williams (RFA)
S: Josh Hayes, Rashad Wisdom (ERFA)
ST: Chase McLaughlin, Riley Dixon

Multiple sources across the NFL have stated that Mike Evans was expected to leave Tampa this season to join a contender. He’d like to go to a contender and win another title. That’s the big domino waiting to fall among the WRs available in free agency. Losing Evans to the 49ers will very much change the landscape of the Buccaneers’ receiving corps.

But it’s not as if they can’t manage. After all, they drafted Emeka Egbuka last year in Round 1 when they had Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan ALL in-house.

The team also lost RB Rachaad White, although Sean Tucker looks like a decent RB2 option (returning as a RFA, as he was assigned a first refusal tender) behind Bucky Irving. Irving is coming off an injury-plagued season, but new OC Zac Robinson is throwing out Bijan Robinson comparisons to the fellow dual-threat RB. White made his biggest contributions in the Buccaneers offense as a pass-catcher, so you could see Irving’s receiving numbers really grow in Year 3.

However, the return of Tucker and the pass-catching specialist Kenneth Gainwell signing a two-year deal suggests Irving is more of a loser in the fallout of NFL Free Agency.

I should note that Gainwell’s new RB coach, Skip Peete, coached with Kellen Moore in Dallas. Moore coached Gainwell in 2024 with the Eagles.

Every-down TE Cade Otton will also return in the Bucs’ offense. Still, they might just do what they did last year and draft another weapon for Baker Mayfield…potentially Oregon tight end, Kenyon Sadiq. They drafted Oregon’s Tez Johnson in 2025. The year before that, they drafted Bucky Irving.

OL is in good shape with guys returning from last season.

It’s a big win if OT Tristan Wirfs can return to full health. OG Cody Mauch should also return as the starting guard after missing nearly all of last year due to a knee injury.

Injuries are really what derailed the Bucs’ offense in 2025. If they can just get healthy in 2026, we could see them return to 2024 form. But if they don’t…it will be interesting to see how things shake out for pillar players on the final years of their contracts: Baker Mayfield, Godwin (club option year), and DT Vita Vea.

As noted previously, Tampa Bay has a new OC.

They also have a new QB coach who was Indiana’s QB coach last season during their run for the 2025 College Football National Championship.

Obviously, that roster is chock-full of NFL talent, but that coaching connection could bolster the case for Tampa Bay to select former Hoosiers this April. They won’t take the QB projected to go No. 1 overall…but WR Omar Cooper, CB De’Angelo Ponds, and WR Elijah Sarratt seem all like viable options.

Defensively, it’s a cornerback. Todd Bowles’ defenses can always snuff out the run, but they constantly get ripped by opposing pass attacks as fantasy football’s “pass-funnel defense.”

They had the 8th-lowest pressure rate generated despite the 4th-highest blitz rate.

CB Jamel Dean signed elsewhere on the open market. However, they are excited about some of their younger defensive backs.

Pass rusher Haason Reddick may also not return after getting just three sacks last season. Yaya Diaby was the best pass rusher for TB last season and is entering the last year of his contract. Getting DT Calijah Kancey back from injury will help, but generating pressure off the edge is a must for Tampa Bay. They added Al-Quadun Muhammed and A’Shawn Robinson to one-year deals as band-aid pass-rush options.

GM Jason Licht said at the NFL Combine, “In order to take the next step, we need to be able to get more pressure on the quarterback.”

Jason Licht and Todd Bowles talked a lot from Indianapolis today.

I have a thread for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans who don't want to sift through all that sound.

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— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) February 25, 2026

According to J.T. Olson on X, Licht hasn’t used his first pick on a player under a 9.0 RAS since 2016. An edge rusher they could target would be Miami’s Akheem Mesidor.

LB Lavonte David ranked second on the team in defensive snaps. But he is 37 years old and is currently unsigned (mulling retirement). Linebacker SirVocea Dennis will be a free agent in 2027. A Day 1 linebacker the Bucs could consider would be Georgia’s C.J. Allen.

However, the addition of LB Alex Anzalone to a two-year contract potentially takes them out of the early linebacker market for the 2026 NFL Draft.