Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dynasty Fantasy Football Free Agency Preview 2026

This is a special article in this 2026 Dynasty Free Agency Preview series. Why? Well, because it’s the first one! And it kicks off a magical journey that we take every single year. Starting today, I am going to post one article a day, every day, until the legal tampering period kicks off to start of free agency on Monday March 9th. Whether you are a Fantasy Alarm ember or a Redditor who has been familiar with this series for the last few years or someone coming along for the first time - welcome aboard!

We are going to start in the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a lot of pieces in place but also a lot of moving parts to address. What we’re going to do here is look at all the offensive weapons for fantasy football and their current status. Are they under contract or not? Is their starting job safe? Are they competing for a job? Are they competing for a roster spot? We’ll look at the contracts, the depth chart, and the narratives to give our best take on what happens next. And, whether you are a Buccaneers fan or a fantasy football enthusiasts, we’ll hopefully have a little bit of entertaining information for you heading into free agency!

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*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

KEY

• White = free agent
• Green = role is safe
• Yellow =  role in flux
• Orange = likely a depth piece
• Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agency 2026

• PROJECTED 2026 SALARIES: $304M
• ESTIMATED 2026 CAP SPACE: $14M

Free Agent Types

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. They are free to negotiate with any team.

Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. The CBA allowed for NFL teams to tender these players to one-year qualifying offers to retain them. Another team can sign them, but would need to provide the tendering team with compensation. In layman’s terms, if a new team signs a player, the current team can match it, or they receive the corresponding pick from the new team. These are the projected RFA tender levels per OverTheCap.com:

• 1st Round - $7,893,000
• 2nd Round - $5,658,000
• Right of First Refusal - $3,453,000

Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams. If the team wants the player back, these contracts are a no-brainer, as the player either needs to play on the contract or sit out. 

Buccaneers Quarterback Depth Chart

Baker Mayfield

Baker Mayfield becomes an unrestricted free agent after this year. His previous contract was super heavy with incentives and even he may have shocked the team with how many he hit - he finished top 10 in virtually every category in 2024, for instance. In this quarterback landscape, this is a guy they need to keep.

He's under contract for 2026 but this offseason is the time to extend him. Buccaneers GM Jason Licht recently shared his goals with Baker which include "reaching an extension when the time is right" so that he "continues to be our quarterback for a long time. So we expect him to be the QB in Tampa Bay moving forward.

Teddy Bridgewater

An interesting story with Bridgewater, as he was happily coaching high school football before being suspended for using his own funds to help kids with food, rides to practice, etc. A law has since been passed allowing all the things he was doing, which clears his name, to some degree. He’s an unrestricted free agent, and it’s yet to be seen whether he will be back playing football or whether he will return to coaching.

Connor Bazelak

Bazelak worked in pre-season and was primarily the emergency third QB, though he was activated to the roster down the stretch when Baker Mayfield was dealing with injuries. He’s an exclusive-rights free agent, meaning that, if they want him back, they can bring him back for the veteran minimum at just over $1M without him being able to negotiate with other teams. 

• Reserves/Futures: N/A

BUCCANEERS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: Baker Mayfield is the quarterback moving forward. But it's worth noting that he got pretty badly hurt this year yet the Buccaneers still continued to roll him out there with a litany of injuries. Which really calls into question their confidence in Teddy Bridgewater. If Bridgewater does call it a career, the Bucs would be wise to bring in a serviceable backup that can potentially go .500 for a short stint of games. They don’t need to break the bank or bring in anyone that actually wants to compete for a starting job. They need someone that can actually play if they need it while also helping with practice and preparation.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Tyler Huntley, Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, Josh Johnson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Running Back Depth Chart

Bucky Irving

Bucky Irving started the year where he left off in 2024, playing north of 70% of the snaps in the first three weeks. He missed a chunk of the season with injury, but by the end of the year, he was back to leading in most phases. In the final week of the season, he played 63% of the snaps to 33% for Rachaad White and 7% for Sean Tucker. As we will discuss next, White is a free agent, so any major threat to Irving in 2026 would have to come from outside the organization.

Rachaad White

Players change their minds all the time. And social media posts don’t always mean what we think. But it’s hard to mince the words when Rachaad White tweets, “See yaw soon @ da next destination”. 

White has already proven that, at the very least, he can be a serviceable pass-catching back. But it sounds like he wants a bigger role, and he plans to test the free agent market to find it. If you have White in dynasty fantasy football, that's probably the best thing for his upside.

Sean Tucker

The Buccaneers got a steal on Sean Tucker as he went undrafted due to a rare heart condition then was subsequently cleared to play. Since he was undrafted yet played a decent amount, he ends up as a restricted free agent this offseason. They can make sure to keep him by using the right of first refusal tender as it's unlikely teams will be going out of their way to pay him. Or they can try to work out a deal that pays less than the ~$3,4M.

• Reserves/Futures: Josh Williams, Owen Wright, Michael Wiley

BUCCANEERS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: Letting both Rachaad White and Sean Tucker walk leaves them too thin and with too much uncertainty at the position. White seems set on leaving, so I expect the Bucs to tender Tucker or work out a deal.

Doing that would leave them with an every-down back in Irving, then a bruiser back in Sean Tucker. The best way to complement that room would be to add someone with some pass-catching chops to the mix. The best options out there are White himself and Kenneth Gainwell, but they’re probably looking for bigger roles. Here are some names that might fit without breaking the bank. Dare Ogunbowale did spend time with the Bucs from 2017 to 2019, but that was when Todd Bowles was the defensive coordinator, not the HC. 

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Kareem Hunt, Jerome Ford, Michael Carter, Dare Ogunbowale

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Mike Evans

Mike Evans is a Hall of Fame wide receiver. There’s no doubt about that. But there is doubt to whether he will be a Buccaneer next year. The Bucs hitting on wide receivers in Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan, as well as extending Chris Godwin, could lead to Evans testing the free agent market. 

I don’t think Evans hangs them up here, so I’d rank the possibilities as

1. Evans leaves
2. He returns
3. He retires

The rumors are that he could leave, but since no one will actually tie their names to the source, those are only rumors. But that would be the most interesting scenario for fantasy football, as the Bucs already have plenty of WRs and there’s no shortage of teams that could use a big body. Every team in the AFC East could use a big split end, for instance.

Chris Godwin

The Patriots played it cautiously with Stefon Diggs, signing him to an incentive-laden contract that could have been voided had he not passed his physical. The Buccaneers did the opposite with Chris Godwin, giving him $44 million guaranteed last offseason with no injury clause. It makes virtually no sense financially to release or trade him, not that they would want to. He has a club option in 2027 with a ~$30M cap hit, so that’s when he’ll be out, if that were to happen.

Emeka Egbuka

Our top comparable player for Emeka Egbuka before the draft was Chris Godwin. So it was a little surprising at first when they drafted him, given that they also extended Godwin. But the more you think about it, it makes a ton of sense. They LOVE Godwin. He’s a focal point of the offense. And he was coming off a serious injury. So why not try to grab someone similar both for now and the future?

Egbuka also got some experience playing on the outside, which makes him a fairly versatile guy. Eventually, he will be the focal point of this offense. And, naturally, he would benefit the most from Mike Evans walking in free agency. His window to be “good” is already open, and his window to be “great” will be open again eventually - possibly this year. He just needs that room to be a little less crowded.

Jalen McMillan

Jalen McMillan suffering the neck injury in the offseason was not ideal. He already faced a tough battle with Emeka Egbuka being a first-round pick, but missing the first 14 games really took that competition off the table. It’s fairly rare to have three fantasy-relevant pass-catchers all at the same time in the NFL, so McMillan needs to beat out Egbuka for snaps or wait out Godwin for big upside. He’s under contract on his rookie deal through 2027. McMillan is a guy I'm personally looking to package up and move as he himself could be a free agent by the time Evans and Godwin are both gone.

Tez Johnson

Seventh-round picks aren’t always roster locks, as their contract structure makes them easy to release. But Tez Johnson absolutely is going to be on the 2026 Buccaneers after he flashed during a period when the Bucs had three injured WRs. Cheap depth is hard to come by, especially at wide receiver. 

Kameron Johnson

Johnson is on a cheap deal, and he led the team in both punt and kick return yards in 2025. In fact, he also covers punts and kicks on those units. So we fully expect him back as a depth piece and special teams guy. 

Jaden Smith

They gave the undrafted Jaden Smith a look in the pre-season before putting him on season-ending IR, technically retaining his rights. He can be released with no dead cap, and, as a 6’6” player, he doesn’t really fit on special teams, so he would need to make a case as a split end.

Sterling Shepard

Shepard was already close to retiring, but was convinced to play by his former college teammate Baker Mayfield. Given how little he played this year despite all the injuries, I would not be surprised if he called it a career. The fact that he battled back to keep playing through some serious injuries is impressive in its own right. 

• Reserves/Futures: Dennis Houston, Garrett Greene

BUCCANEERS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: Even if the Buccaneers were to be without Mike Evans, they’d still be loaded at wide receiver. And they already have someone that can return kicks and punts. If anything, they might add some depth in terms of size with guys that can play split end in a pinch. Jaden Smith is 6’6” so maybe he’s that guy or they could take a look at these players for a reasonable price. Keep in mind - we are not saying these guys replace Mike Evans, we are saying they are the “next man up” or WR4 if they need a big body on the outside.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Tim Patrick, Jalen Tolbert, Noah Brown, Treylon Burks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tight End Depth Chart

Cade Otton

Both former OC Liam Coen and new OC Zac Robinson came up under Sean McVay and the Rams. They both primarily utilize three WR sets with a two-way, inline tight end. Blocking is just as important as catching passes, if not more so. That’s why Robinson is a good fit for this team. 

That also makes Cade Otton a good fit. If he’s not back, that would likely mean that the Buccaneers decided not to pay up for him with all the other weapons they have. And, quite frankly, it would probably be better for his fantasy value if he did walk. You don’t want your fantasy tight end playing inline with a bunch of good wide receivers, it caps their upside. 

Payne Durham

Payne Durham is the primary blocking tight end. When Cade Otton is out, they do elevate him into a bigger role, though largely still inline. This year in the game, Otton missed. He played 65% of the snaps, but didn’t register a target. He does not feel like the full-time solution if Otton is gone, nor is he particularly interesting for fantasy football, unless they’ve been keeping his receiving abilities a big secret. He only caught one pass on the season while playing 17 games.  

Devin Culp

Culp is just barely a “tight end”. At 6’3” 231, he’s really more like a split end. The interesting thing for very deep dynasty leagues is his elite 4.47 forty-yard dash. But this scheme, which utilizes an inline tight end rather than a “big slot” player, doesn’t really favor his skillset. The only time he played more than 8% of the snaps this year was when Cade Otton missed Week 15 - he played 29% and caught one pass.

Oddly, though, in deep dynasty fantasy football leagues, we’d much rather roster Culp than Payne Durham or Ko Kieft. At least he profiles as a pass catcher and has athleticism. He can be released for next to nothing, and that might actually be the best thing for his value if he can catch on and someday play a role like Juwan Johnson or Oronde Gadsden, other WR-adjacent tight ends. 

Ko Kieft

Kieft is basically their second blocking tight end behind Durham. He broke his leg in Week 3 against the Jets, ending his season early. He’s an unrestricted free agent and a replacement-level guy, so he likely won’t have a major impact in the pass game regardless of whether he’s back or not.   

BUCCANEERS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Buccaneers do not have their two-way tight end solution on the roster right now if they let Cade Otton leave. So their options would be via free agency or the draft. Here are some players that can both block and catch at a high enough level to fit what this team wants to do. If Cade Otton is too expensive, Tyler Higbee worked with Zac Robinson in the past when he was with the Los Angeles Rams.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Cade Otton, Tyler Higbee, David Njoku, Dallas Goedert, Noah Fant

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