For the first time this decade, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended the season without a ticket to the playoffs. You'd have to go back to 2019 for the last time the Bucs missed the playoffs and it's been five years since the team hasn't owned the NFC South crown.
All of that came crashing down thanks to a historic collapse over the last few months of the season. The Bucs took a 6-2 start and completely dismantled it to finish 8-9 and in second place. Even a win in Week 18 over the Panthers couldn't get the job done, as Tampa Bay failed to win just one more of its final five games.
That collapse is likely to bring about change -- on both the coaching staff and roster -- and give the Bucs their highest draft pick since 2020.
Updated 2026 NFL Draft Order shows where the Buccaneers will be picking in Round 1
Now that the regular season is over, the non-playoff portion of the draft order is set, and unfortunately the Bucs are among that group of teams.
The Bucs will head into the offseason owning the No. 15 overall pick in the draft, which is the highest they'll be picking in five seasons. That year, the first with Tom Brady but before he'd taken a snap for the team, the Bucs held the 14th pick, but traded up one spot with the 49ers to draft Tristan Wirfs, which sets a wonderful precedent for what the team can do with such a premium pick.
Here's a look at the rest of the Top 18 of the draft order looks like:
Draft Pick | Team |
|---|---|
No. 1 | Las Vegas Raiders |
No. 2 | New York Jets |
No. 3 | Arizona Cardinals |
No. 4 | Tennessee Titans |
No. 5 | New York Giants |
No. 6 | Cleveland Browns |
No. 7 | Washington Commanders |
No. 8 | New Orleans Saints |
No. 9 | Kansas City Chiefs |
No. 10 | Cincinnati Bengals |
No. 11 | Miami Dolphins |
No. 12 | Dallas Cowboys |
No. 13 | Los Angeles Rams (From Falcons) |
No. 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
No. 15 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
No. 16 | New York Jets (From Colts) |
No. 17 | Detroit Lions |
No. 18 | Minnesota Vikings |
It's still way too early to think about who specifically the Bucs will draft, but we all have a pretty good idea about how the pick should be used. Flaws were exposed all over the defense this season, with linebacker being among the most desperate eras on the roster the front office needs to fix.
Pass rush also remained a disaster, as the lack of hands on the quarterback magnified all the other issues that played into the historic collapse. Lest we forget how the Bucs last spent this high of a pick, as the offensive line was in shambles all season due to injuries and might be a place the team invests premium draft capital to shore up.
There's no shortage of ways the Bucs could use the pick, including dangling it as trade bait to try and acquire an already established player at any of those positions. Fans will instantly start doing the math on a Maxx Crosby trade, even if the numbers might not totally work.
Change is on the horizon in Tampa, but the Bucs aren't as far away from getting things back on track as it seems. Free agency will be big, but the pressure is also on Jason Licht to nail this first round pick.