For the first time this decade, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to reach the playoffs, losing the NFC South crown and a four-year streak in the process. Sifting through the rubble of their historic collapse last season hasn't been easy, but it's been a necessary process; changes need to be made because this team has proven to be too talented to play as bad as it did.
It's a long offseason process but it all starts with free agency. Typically the Bucs have taken up residency in the quiet car of the free agency train, avoiding splashy deals and spending wisely -- and efficiently -- on areas of need.
This offseason is a little different. While the Bucs have finally swallowed their medicine and navgated out of the cap hell they were in after paying for the Tom Brady years, there still isn't a ton of money to spend and big names like Mike Evans and Lavonte David could be leaving.
Add to that major holes on the roster -- specifically on defense -- and it's clear the Bucs have a lot to do.
On This Page
- Free-agency snapshot
- Major Buccaneers signings
- Buccaneers Free Agency Departures
- Best targets remaining
Free-agency snapshot
- Cap space remaining: $19,962,510 (estimated before several cap hits become official)
- Biggest signing: Alex Anzalone, LB
- Biggest departure: Meike Evans, WR
- Most surprising move: Re-signing Cade Otton
- Biggest remaining need: Edge Rusher
Last updated: 3:48 p.m. ET, March 9, 2026
Major Buccaneers signings
Cade Otton, TE
Perhaps the most surprising moves the Bucs made was one of the team's first. Moments after the legal tampering period opened, Tampa Bay re-signed tight end Cade Otton to a three-year deal.
It's not surprising that the Bucs viewed him as a valuable piece of the offense, it's that all signs seemed to point toward him getting a bigger deal elsewhere. Otton hit the market as one of the top available offensive weapons but being able to bring him back means Baker Mayfield gets some major continuity on offense heading into yet another year where he'll have a new offensive coordinator.
Otton's return is also impossible to divorce from the Mike Evans situation. It was widely believed that the Bucs would have to choose between the two, given the limited amount of money available to spend. Re-signing Otton as the first move out of the gate was bittersweet for this very reason, as it seemed to signal the end to Evans' time in Tampa Bay.
Ironically, that's one of the reasons Otton's return actually helps soothe that wound. He was instrumental to the offense when Evans missed time over the last two seasons and has gone from a safety valve to a key piece for Zac Robinson to build his new scheme around.
Cade Otton re-signing with the Bucs is a bittersweet move
Kenneth Gainwell, RB
Mike Evans wasn't the only free agent the Bucs were preparing to move on without. The writing had been on the wall since last offseason for Rachaad White, and the time has come for both sides to see what life is like without the other.
It's not a messy end by any means. The whole idea since last offseason was that White would be given an opportunity to showcase his skills for a big contract while the Bucs benefited from his contract year play. The results were mostly mixed but the overall vibe of the two sides getting together for one last job ultimately worked.
The Bucs were the first ones to pull away from the job, though. As White sifts through potential offers, Tampa Bay wasted little time bringing in Kenneth Gainwell to replace him. It's an underrated move that has the chance to payoff big, as Gainwell comes to the Bucs hot off a season where he rushed for over 1,000 yards as part of a comittee in Pittsburgh.
What this also tells us is that it's Bucky Irving's backfield now. He already assumed RB1 duties over White last year but he's not the longest tenured member of the room (assuming Sean Tucker isn't brought back).
More on the Buccaneers adding Kenneth Gainwell to the backfield
Alex Anzalone, LB
Much like Cade Otton's deal, the Bucs going out and signing Alex Anzalone was a surprise -- and a pleasant one at that.
Evans has dominated so much of the veteran potentially leaving conversation that Lavonte David's decision has been pushed to the back-burner a bit. It's still unclear if he'll return for another season but the Bucs are set no matter what he decides.
Anzalone returns to the NFC South after a successful stint in Detroit, and brings relief to a position the Bucs badly needed to address. The situation at linebacker has been a mess for a few seasons and Anzalone's skill and veteran leadership helps mend it a bit. There are still moves that need to be made to fortify the position, but having someone 180 tackles over the last three seasons ans who always seems to be in the right place at the right time is exactly where the Bucs needed to start.
Read more on the Buccaneers deal with Alex Anzalone
Buccaneers Free Agency Departures
Mike Evans, WR (Signed with 49ers; 3 years/$60.4M)
This is the big one. For the first time in his career, Mike Evans is testing free agency and it appears it will be a journey that leads him away from Tampa Bay. It's a painful loss, less because of the on-field aspect and more because Evans is one of the most iconic players to have ever played for the Buccaneers. He's a future Hall of Famer who has become a fan favorite and a franchise legend over the last 12 years, and having No. 13 play his 13th season with the only team he's ever known felt like a dream.
Much like a dream, it's fading away as well wake up to the idea that Evans' time in Tampa Bay is over.
He's earned the right to be wooed and sign a deal that gives him one last major payday. It'll be a sad day when it arrives, but the Bucs are well prepared for life after Evans even if it feels too soon to say that. Last year Tampa Bay drafted Emeka Egbuka, who was looking like a Rookie of the Year candidate until he got injured, and have Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan to feed as well. Lest we forget Tez Johnson burst onto the scene as a spunky speedster, and all of a sudden the X's and O's loss of Evans stings a little less.
None of that makes up for the blow to morale losing Evans will have, though.
Jamel Dean, CB (Signed with Steelers, 3 years/$36.7M)
Lost in all of the drama surrounding Mike Evans leaving was the departure of Jamel Dean. After restructuring his contract last offseason, Dean hit the market a year early and followed in his former teammate's footsteps in leaving Tampa Bay.
Dean heads up to Pittsburgh to play for Mike McCarthy as he tries to get things back on track for the Steelers. It's a franchise that has long prided itself on defense and Dean showed last year he's still capable of being the guy the Bucs gave $53 million a handful of years ago.
He's still prone to some bafflingly mistakes, something Bucs fans won't miss, but he turned back the clock a bit last season with some elite play. Dean was also instrumental in helping bring a Super Bowl to Tampa Bay back in 2020 as part of a menacing defense, and now gets a chance to do what Carlton Davis III did and revive his career somewhere else.
Best targets remaining
- EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson
- LB Devin Bush
- DL John Franklin-Myers
- RB Tyler Allgeier
- CB Chidobe Awuzie