Buccaneers lose Rueben Bain Jr. to bitter NFC South rival in 2026 NFL Re-Draft

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers landed one of the biggest steals of the 2026 NFL Draft when Rueben Bain Jr. miraculously fell into their laps at No. 15 overall. 

Bain was regarded as one of the draft’s best pass rushers, and was widely expected to be a top 10 pick. 

Frankly, it doesn’t make much sense to do a re-draft before the draft picks have played out their rookie seasons. It’s more common to see redrafts a few years into their careers. 

But alas, that didn’t stop Sports Illustrated’s Justin Melo from re-imagining the 2026 NFL Draft, giving teams a second chance at their first-round selections. 

This time around, the Buccaneers weren’t lucky enough to have Bain fall to them. Even worse, he landed with a division rival. 

Rueben Bain Jr. gets drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2026 NFL Re-Draft

The Saints originally drafted Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson with their No. 8 overall pick.

Tyson was considered by many to be the best wide receiver in the draft, but his injury concerns scared some teams off from investing premium draft capital on him. 

Given a redo of their selection, Melo has the Saints pivoting to Bain. 

"We understand why the New Orleans Saints decided to make the risky pick of wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who will undoubtedly support Tyler Shough's growth at quarterback if he stays healthy. We're going with a safer route in this scenario, taking pass rusher Rueben Bain Jr. The Saints ended up re-signing Cameron Jordan, but Bain would be a terrific replacement"

Justin Melo, Sports Illustrated

With Bain off the board, the Bucs pivoted to his Miami teammate, fellow edge rusher Akheem Mesidor.

Mesidor was initially the heavy favorite to be Tampa Bay’s pick entering draft day. We at The Pewter Plank had the Bucs drafting Mesidor in our final predictive mock draft.

Of course, that was before we knew that Bain would somehow still be on the board.

Adding another fun layer to this re-draft is that Jason Licht made it a point to specifically remind Bain during his introductory press conference that the Saints passed on him during the draft, hoping to light a fire under the rookie. 

No take backs, Saints. Bain belongs to Tampa Bay! 

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