The Buccaneers lost the best wide receiver in franchise history when Mike Evans left in free agency, and now head coach Todd Bowles wants to see who steps up to replace him.
“They’re talented,” Bowles said. “We know they’ve got a lot of talent right there. Any time you lose a player like that, or any player that was legendary on their team, different guys got to come in and step up. That’s the nature of sports, and I’m sure we have some guys in that room that will.”
Bowles said wide receiver Jalen McMillan has looked good in the offseason program.
“Jalen’s tough. His mental toughness is unbelievable,” Bowles said. “His competitiveness, the way he attacks the ball, the way he fights for every route and wants to get open and be that guy, that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Bowles also said wide receiver Chris Godwin, who has missed more games than he’s played the last two seasons, is healthy and looks ready to have a big year.
“Chris has been great. He’s in great shape, he’s healthy, he’s working out, he’s tough, he’s very smart,” Bowles said. “He looks good.”
No one will make Buccaneers fans forget Evans, but if the Buccaneers get good seasons from McMillan and Godwin, and last year’s impressive rookie Emeka Egbuka continues to improve, they could have as good a corps of wide receivers without Evans as they had with him.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles will get to catch up with one of his former teams this summer.
Bowles said at a Tuesday press conference that the Bucs have set up a pair of joint practices with the Jets before the two teams play in the first week of the preseason. Bowles was the head coach of the Jets from 2015-2018.
There will likely be workouts with the Jaguars before the final game of the preseason as well.
“We lined it up with the Jets and we’re in the process of trying to line it up with the Jaguars, as well,” Bowles said, via the team’s website. “We’ll probably just play Kansas City.”
The Bucs practiced with both of the AFC teams ahead of the 2023 season as well.
Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was limited to 10 games last season due to injury.
He’s on the mend after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, but is not yet participating as Tampa Bay gets its OTA practices started this week.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Irving got on the field midway through the day’s session and worked on the side with trainers and running backs coach Skip Peete.
“[H]e’s coming along fine,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the session, via PewterReport.com. “We expect him sometime back in the summer or fall, and we’ll look forward to him when he gets back.”
That Bowles would mention the fall when discussing Irving’s return is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. But it is still late May, giving Irving months to recover before Tampa Bay’s Week 1 matchup against the Bengals.
Irving rushed for 588 yards with one touchdown and caught 30 passes for 277 yards with three TDs last season. As a rookie in 2024, he rushed for 1,122 yards with eight touchdowns and caught 47 passes for 392 yards.
The Buccaneers have taken care of some important business with their rookies.
Tampa Bay announced on Thursday that second-round pick Josiah Trotter has signed his rookie four-year deal.
That means the Bucs have now signed all seven of their 2026 draftees.
Trotter, a linebacker, played his college ball at at West Virginia in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Mizzou for 2025. He was the Big 12 defensive freshman of the year in 2024 before becoming a first-team All-SEC selection in 2205.
The NFL’s current political issues include an effort by Florida attorney general James Uthmeier to challenge the league’s diversity initiatives. Most recently, Uthmeier issued an investigative subpoena to the NFL, along with a letter suggesting that the league’s response to his initial communication may have violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by revising “many references” on its public website to its allegedly “unlawful ‘inclusive hiring’ policies.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell was in Florida on Tuesday, for the most recent ownership meeting. During a press conference conducted at the conclusion of the sessions, Goodell was asked about Uthmeier’s ongoing assault on the league.
“I think we have been very clear about our programs, and we obviously evaluate them all the time, not just for how they get better, but also to make sure that they’re consistent with the law,” Goodell said, via the Associated Press. “We’re engaging with the Florida attorney general and will continue to. We’ll share everything we’re doing with them. We think it’s certainly within the law, but also something very positive.”
The best evidence, frankly, would be to point to the teams’ hiring practices regarding coaches and General Managers. Despite efforts to expand the interview pool to include diverse candidates, the ultimate decisions — made exclusively by the teams and not the league — do not represent the demographics of the player population.
Uthmeier, who is running for election in 2026 to the job for which he received a gubernatorial appointment, may be engaging in performative antics. Time will tell whether his letter-writing campaign and request for information becomes something more than that.
