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.
