Things are already heard enough for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers right now, which means more bad injury news is the last thing anyone wants to hear.
Unfortunately, as the Bucs prepare to take on the Panthers in an absolute must-win game, that’s exactly what’s happening. Starting cornerback Zyon McCollum was placed on injured reserve, ending a season both he and fans in Tampa would love to forget.
McCollum came into the season with insane hype. He had played his way both into a CB1 role on defense and a fat new contract extension. Getting ahead of his pending free agency this upcoming March, the Bucs have McCollum a three-year, $48 million deal only to watch him regress more and more as the season wore on.
Things bottomed out on Thursday, when after getting cooked on yet another tough coverage route, McCollum exited the loss to Atlanta and didn’t return.
Now we know why.
Buccaneers place Zyon McCollum on season-ending IR with hip injury
McCollum heads to IR with a hip injury that will keep him out for at least four weeks. That means he’ll miss the Bucs’ last three games as well as the Wild Card round, should Tampa Bay make it that far.
The Bucs have placed cornerback Zyon McCollum on injured reserve. Keep in mind, Benjamin Morrison has missed several games this year already.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 15, 2025
That’s the big question in everyone’s mind, and an answer that’s pretty close to definitive will likely be coming on Sunday.
The Bucs caught a huge break in Week 15 thanks to the Saints upsetting the Panthers, a result that moved Tampa Bay back into first place in the NFC South.
By winning their next two games — or two of the last three — the Bucs will clinch a division title. If that’s going to happen it means the defense will have to step up in ways it simply hasn’t all season. McCollum has become a poster child for those struggles, getting lit up with just a 61.9 coverage grade according to PFF.
He’s been bad, and the optics of him getting cooked against Davante Adams in the Sunday night loss to the Rams a few weeks ago was a final straw for fans.
The entire defense has underperformed, but McCollum’s struggles have been particularly upsetting. He was primed for a huge year and has completely flamed out, adding pressure to an already volatile situation involving how things are going on that side of the ball.
Some may celebrate the fact that McCollum is out, or crack a joke about how he was never really in, but it’s overall just a giant bummer of a way for things to end. He might return for a playoff run, but here’s to hoping McCollum can rest up and get right for next year because this one was one to forget.