The 2026 NFL Draft is a pivotal one for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After losing franchise staples Lavonte David and Mike Evans, who both played in Tampa Bay for over a decade, the team is hoping to find its new cornerstones to lead the new era of Bucs football.
In their pursuit of drafting the next great Buccaneer, they can also screw over a division rival in the process.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers can steal Kenyon Sadiq from Carolina Panthers during 2026 NFL Draft
By all accounts, the Carolina Panthers have fallen in love with Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq during the pre-draft process.
According to ESPN, Sadiq won’t make it past the Panthers at No. 19 if he falls to them. The Panthers have had some of the lowest production from the tight end position of any team in recent years. They haven’t had a tight end reach 500 receiving yards since 2019.
Carolina continues to prioritize building around Bryce Young and giving him weapons, and after spending back-to-back first-round picks on wide receivers, they could now address a major weakness at tight end.
But the Bucs could stop all of this draft buzz in its tracks. Tampa Bay holds the No. 15 pick, four spots ahead of Carolina. The Buccaneers have also had a lot of smoke connecting them to Sadiq.
Tampa Bay just re-signed Cade Otton, but they don’t have a viable receiving threat behind him on the depth chart. New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson ran 12 personnel at the second-highest rate in the league last year, and the Bucs need another dynamic tight end for that system to be successful.
Of their 24 confirmed pre-draft 30 visits, Tampa Bay has used six of them at tight end, more than any other position. It's no secret the team isn't satisifed with their tight end room, and Jason Licht even said he would love to add a player that brings a new element to the position room.
Landing Sadiq would add that missing element and provide Baker Mayfield with an explosive new weapon, and at the same time it would throw a wrench in the Panthers’ draft plans.
If there’s anything that could make drafting the fastest tight end in NFL Combine history even sweeter, it’s knowing the Panthers were drooling over him and hoping he’d fall to them, but the Bucs were the ones who stuck a fork in the pipe dream.
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