Mike Evans said late last year that he’ll make a decision about playing in 2026 “when the time is right” and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield thinks he knows which way that decision is going to go.
During an appearance on The Ronde Barber Show, Mayfield was asked about what kind of pitch he’d make to Evans about returning for a 13th season. Mayfield said he doesn’t believe he’ll have to make a hard sell because Evans will want to play for new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson while wiping away the memory of missing the playoffs at the end of an injury-plagued season.
“I don’t have to really plea with it,” Mayfield said. “Mike’s too much of a competitor and cares too much about Tampa to end his career without 1,000 yards, without a division championship, without a playoff run. And that, first of all, speaks to who Mike is but that’s the truth. And you know he doesn’t want to do that. You could just kind of feel it. Listen, I don’t have any info. I’ve told Mike, ‘This is your decision. Take your time doing it.’ But, understanding who Mike is, this is my guess, that he didn’t want it to end this way. He knows the potential if we’re able to stay a little bit more healthy. Zac will do great things for us, and we’ll go from there. But Mike’s got more in the tank. You could tell with the energy, the fire he had at the end of the year.”
Evans is not under contract for the 2026 season, but it feels like a safe bet that the Bucs would want him back if the wideout decides to keep playing.
Bucs Clips
Like Kevin Patullo, Josh Grizzard was a first-time offensive coordinator in 2025. Like Patullo, Grizzard was fired after one season.
Grizzard will now be working for Patullo’s former team.
Per multiple reports, Grizzard has been hired to serve as the Eagles’ pass game coordinator. On Thursday, the Eagles hired Packers quarterback coach Sean Mannion to be the new offensive coordinator in Philly.
Grizzard, 35, was promoted from pass game coordinator to offensive coordinator in Tampa last year, after Liam Coen left to become head coach of the Jaguars.
Grizzard was one of the candidates for the offensive coordinator job in Philadelphia, a high-risk, high-reward gig that, for four straight years, has either resulted in a catapult to a head-coaching job or the issuance of a pink slip.
The Buccaneers are considering a coach from this year’s national champions for their quarterbacks coach job.
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that they have interviewed Chandler Whitmer for the position. Whitmer was a co-offensive coordinator for the Hoosiers and also coached the team’s quarterbacks.
That group includes Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who is expected to be the first overall pick in this year’s draft. Whitmer would be working with a more experienced quarterback in Baker Mayfield if he winds up working in Tampa.
Whitmer was a passing game specialist for the Falcons in 2024 and Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson held the same role in Atlanta that season. He also worked for the Chargers, Clemson and Ohio State before joining Curt Cignetti’s staff in Bloomington.
The Buccaneers had some interest in a recently fired coach to join head coach Todd Bowles’ revamped 2026 staff. But at this point, that’s not going to happen.
Greg Auman of FOX Sports reported on Wednesday that Tampa Bay talked to former Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott about a role with the franchise. But McDermott is still planning to take 2026 off of coaching and reevaluate his options in 2027.
It was previously reported that even though McDermott initially planned to continue coaching, he changed his mind and was likely to take a year off.
McDermott and Buccaneers G.M. Jason Licht were both with the Eagles from 2003-2007, with Licht working in the club’s front office and McDermott on Andy Reid’s coaching staff.
The Buccaneers have new offensive and special teams coordinators under Bowles heading into 2026, with some members of the defensive staff also not retained. Tampa Bay finished a disappointing 8-9 in 2025, missing out on the postseason despite beating the Panthers in Week 18.
McDermott should be the proverbial belle of the ball next offseason for teams that need a head coach.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield will be playing for his fifth offensive coordinator in the last five seasons, but he won’t be starting totally from scratch with Zac Robinson.
Robinson was on the Rams’ staff when Mayfield closed out the 2022 season as the team’s starter. Mayfield opened that season with the Panthers, but was waived in December and joined a Rams team that was dealing with injuries at the position. Mayfield wound up playing days after signing and Robinson said at a Tuesday press conference that the “time that we spent together was invaluable.”
“He came in right away and was meeting guys for the first time in the huddle on Wednesday’s practice and you could just see everybody gravitates towards Baker,” Robinson said, via the team’s website. “That’s what you’re looking for from that position. You want that true igniter, you want that guy that elevates the rest of the group. When you have a guy like that, you have a chance to win every single Sunday. The impact that he has, obviously just as a leader – you can speak to the talent and the type of player he is and all those things, but those guys that give you a chance every single Sunday – and the guys in that locker room know it – it’s a big deal.”
Mayfield played some of the best football of his career during Tampa’s 5-1 start to the 2025 season, but he and the offense as a whole had a harder time the rest of the way. Robinson will be tasked with making sure the productivity remains high throughout next season in Tampa.
After Kevin Stefanski was hired by the Falcons, one of his former Browns players took notice of a tweet referencing the team’s revolving door of quarterbacks during Stefanski’s tenure.
Baker Mayfield was the starting quarterback when Stefanski was hired as the head coach in Cleveland in 2020 and the two men guided the Browns to the divisional round of the playoffs that year, which is likely why Mayfield took issue with being called a failure and part of a “dumpster fire” at the position. Mayfield was traded to the Panthers after the Browns missed the playoffs in 2021 and went on to say he’s “still waiting” to hear from Stefanski after being “shipped off like a piece of garbage.”
Mayfield closed by saying that he’s looking forward to facing Stefanski twice a year. During an introductory press conference in Atlanta on Tuesday, Stefanski was asked for his response to Mayfield’s comments.
“Baker’s somebody that I have a ton of respect for as a player and a person,” Stefanski said. “I love rivalries in sports, and, obviously, Buccaneers-Falcons have a great rivalry. It’s something that I’m excited about. I would not get into the specifics of those type of things, other than to say I have a ton of respect for Baker as a player, as a person. That’s a great team with a great player.”
We don’t know when the Bucs and Falcons will play each other during the 2026 season, but both Mayfield and Stefanski are likely to field more questions about each other in the days leading up to their first matchup.
The Jaguars are adding an offensive assistant.
Jacksonville is hiring Brian Picucci to be the club’s offensive run game coordinator, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Picucci had been Tampa Bay’s offensive line coach in 2025 after serving as the club’s assistant offensive line coach in 2024.
Picucci worked with Jaguars head coach Liam Coen at multiple stops, including with Tampa Bay in 2024 and also at the college level at Kentucky.
The Buccaneers have made it official with Zac Robinson, announcing the club has hired him as offensive coordinator on Thursday.
“We are excited to welcome Zac Robinson as our next offensive coordinator,” head coach Todd Bowles said in a statement released by the team. “Zac is one of the bright offensive minds in our game, and during the interview process, I was very impressed with his plan for getting the most out of the talent we have on that side of the ball. He has a very good understanding of the strengths of our top offensive players from his time in the division the past two years and I am very confident in his ability to teach and develop our young players.”
Robinson replaces Josh Grizzard, who served one year as the team’s OC after Liam Coen departed the franchise to become Jacksonville’s head coach.
Robinson will be the team’s fifth different offensive coordinator over the last five seasons following Byron Leftwich, Dave Canales, Coen, and Grizzard.
Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan has been the betting favorite to win offensive rookie of the year for some time and he officially became a finalist for the award on Thursday.
McMillan was a first-round pick last April and he posted 70 catches, 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns for the NFC South champs. If McMillan wins the award, he’ll join Cam Newton as the only Panthers to receive the honor.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough might have surpassed McMillan as the favorite with more time in the starting lineup. Even if he falls short of hearing his name announced at the NFL Honors event in February, Shough’s provided reason for hope about the future in New Orleans.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson are the other finalists this year.
The Buccaneers have found their next offensive coordinator.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that they are finalizing a deal with Zac Robinson to take that key role on Todd Bowles’s coaching staff.
Robinson spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Falcons, so he’s no stranger to life in the NFC South. The Falcons finished 13th in scoring in 2024, but dropped to 24th in 2025 and finished 8-9 both seasons. That led to head coach Raheem Morris getting fired and it pushed Robinson to find a new place to coach.
Robinson was the quarterbacks coach for the Rams before going to Atlanta, so he’s also no stranger to Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield spent time with the Rams during the 2022 season and the success of their reunion will do much to determine how well things will go in Tampa next season.
