Entering a weekend where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can potentially win a fifth-straight NFC South title, the biggest question revolves around the future of head coach Todd Bowles.
It's how the Bucs can win the South that has all eyes on Bowles and the temperature of his hot seat. For fans, they've already seen enough. Calls for Bowles' job date back to when he stepped into the role back in 2022, but have grown to a crescendo as the Bucs have fallen deeper into a losing streak this season.
If the Bucs win the division, they'll do it with a losing record. That, among many other things, is why it's worth wondering if the team will make a coaching change at the end of the season.
ESPN's Adam Schefter is the latest insider to weigh in on the matter, noting on the pregame show before Saturday's game that the Bucs are likely to keep Bowles barring some last-minute change.
"The Buccaneers do not want to make a change," Schefter reported on the MNF Countdown show. "Going into the game tonight the plan is to stick with Todd Bowles. Now if they lose, things could change."
That's not exactly a vote of confidence, but it's yet another insider echoing what seems to be a growing consensus on Bowles' job status. He's no doubt on the hot seat, but it doesn't seem that things are hot enough for the Bucs to make a move.
It's starting to sound like the Buccaneers won't be firing Todd Bowles this offseason
One of the likeliest outcomes has always been Bowles getting to the end of this season and deciding to retire. That would take the Bucs off the hook for his contract extension in terms of needing to pay that out if they fired him.
There's also a chance he goes the Bruce Arians route and moves into an advisory role, something that may also be a way to get around the extension that insiders continue to cite as a reason he'll be back. It also jibes with how well respected Bowles is within the organization and how important the relationships he's built since arriving in the late-2010s are.
None of that absolves Bowles of the sins from this season, which need to be reckoned with one way or another. If he's back, it feels like there will be significant changes to the coaching staff, but at this point nothing is certain.
All that we do know is that the counter to all the fan frustration and the knee-jerk will to fire Bowles is how well liked he is within in the building and how much capital he's built up. That might not satiate bloodthirsty fans who rightfully want to see some consequences for the failure of this season, but it doesn't mean things will go the way everyone is expecting.