Thanks to the failed Vita Vea and Baker Mayfield contract negotiations, there is a lot of drama surrounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start training camp, but there is one thing that can remedy any issue. And that's winning football games.
The underlying source of the discontent in Tampa Bay is the fact that the Buccaneers are coming off a historic collapse in which they blew the worst division in football, the NFC South, to the Carolina Panthers by losing multiple divisional battles down the stretch of the regular season.
Here are three things the Bucs need to fix in order to get back on track.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to Baker Mayfield cook
Injuries definitely hampered Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense last season, but it was so frustrating to see how much the Bucs took the ball out of the hands of their star quarterback. Josh Grizzard paid for his sins by being fired, but Todd Bowles and the entire coaching staff have to, here is Baker's favorite word, be accountable for what happened last season.
The Bucs need to let Baker be Baker. When he was free to create and do what he wanted in and out of the pocket, the Bucs won and had him playing at an MVP level. Get back to that, and this Bucs offense, armed with a deeper group of pass catchers this season, will put big points on the board.
Todd Bowles needs to help Buccaneers' star defenders out
Todd Bowles was once one of the most revered defensive minds in the NFL back when he was a defensive coordinator, but as a head coach, his defenses have been pretty disappointing. Tampa Bay's unit has generally been mediocre under Bowles, but it was flat out terrible last season, even with a career year from now departed cornerback Jamel Dean.
At the crux of the issue are the best players on the defense being asked to play outside of their strengths instead of sticking to what they do best, with no player typifying that than safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Bowles needs to let Winfield cut loose and make plays, and when it comes to the front seven, none of this zone blitzing or coverage nonsense. Let YaYa Diaby and Rueben Bain Jr. be dogs and get after the quarterback.
Buccaneers need to embody Ruthless Aggression in 2026
To that end, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need that Thuganomics John Cena Ruthless Aggression. Jason Licht went out and brought in nasty defensive players like A'Shawn Robinson and Batman Villain Bain to bring an edge to the defense that was missing. They were softer than Charmin last season, breaking up into pieces when the opponents ran it up the gut or put them under pressure.
And likewise on offense, they need to be nasty, too. Lean on your top-notch offensive line to run it down the defense's throat, then blast them over the top with those deep passes to one of the NFL's deepest groups of pass-catchers.
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