The Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the NFC South for a fifth straight year and reaching the playoffs for a sixth straight year took a big hit on Sunday when the Bucs fell to the Carolina Panthers. That loss sent the Panthers to first place in the division and the Bucs would be on the outside of the playoffs looking in if the season ended right now.
The playoffs aren't off the table but the Bucs need to win out and hope the Panthers stumble in their final two games. That's not an entirely crazy fault considering Carolina still has first-place Seattle on its schedule with the Bucs close with the Dolphins and another game against the Panthers.
While Bucs fans are still hoping for a playoff berth, the other side of the coin here is that if the Bucs don't get into the postseason, their draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft will be better. A down year could end up being beneficial here because they could add a talented player that could flip the script next year.
Here's what the first round of April's draft looks like after Week 16, per Tankathon:
Number | Team | Record | Strength of Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Giants | 2-13 | .530 |
2 | Las Vegas Raiders | 2-13 | .545 |
3 | Cleveland Browns | 3-12 | .490 |
4 | New York Jets | 3-12 | .539 |
5 | Arizona Cardinals | 3-12 | .575 |
6 | Tennessee Titans | 3-12 | .575 |
7 | Washington Commanders | 4-11 | .500 |
8 | New Orleans Saints | 5-10 | .496 |
9 | Cincinnati Bengals | 5-10 | .516 |
10 | Miami Dolphins | 6-9 | .492 |
11 | Los Angeles Rams (via Atlanta Falcons) | 6-9 | .502 |
12 | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-9 | .514 |
13 | Dallas Cowboys | 6-8-1 | .441 |
14 | Baltimore Ravens | 7-8 | .504 |
15 | Minnesota Vikings | 7-8 | .520 |
16 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7-8 | .528 |
17 | Detroit Lions | 8-7 | .492 |
18 | New York Jets (via Indianapolis Colts) | 8-6* | .535 |
Buccaneers loss opens door to rare early draft silver lining
If the season ended today, the Bucs would hold the 16th pick in the draft, giving them a pick in the first half of round one. This would be the earliest pick they've held since 2020 when they took Tristan Wirfs 13th overall and that turned out well for them.
Fans know that, at the very least, Jason Licht is going to make sure the Bucs get a game-changer with this selection so that is a strong silver lining to a disappointing year the team has had. Injuries have been a big issue but the Bucs simply haven't been good enough against teams that past Bucs squads would have annihilated. That needs to change if Tampa wants to get back to a Super Bowl anytime soon.
Now, it's worth noting that the Bucs are not out of the running to make the playoffs just yet so their draft positioning could absolutely fluctuate between now and whenever their season officially ends. In fact, they still have a 58% chance to make the playoffs, which is better than the Panthers' 42% odds, per NFL NextGen Stats.
Right now, however, if the draft was taking place, the Bucs would hold a high pick, at least for them, and the hope is that they'd make the most of that pick.