2026 has been a year of change in Tampa.
Coach Todd Bowles staved off termination after a disappointing finish to 2025, but is left to pick up the pieces as the Buccaneers push forward into 2026. The process will involve adjusting the roster to replace the loss of two franchise icons.
Legendary Bucs receiver Mike Evans left for San Francisco in free agency. His similarly venerated defensive counterpart, linebacker Lavonte David, retired after 14 years with the Buccaneers. In order to properly respond to their departures, Bowles first had to process their exits.
"Oh man, that was tough," Bowles said Monday on Good Morning Football in response to Evans leaving. "He's the best of the best on and off the field. I can't say enough good things about him. They got a great one as they know, we know how great he was. Very hard to see him leave sentimentally and professionally from that standpoint for me and everybody else involved.
"But we've got a lot of guys that can step up in that room with Emeka [Egbuka], [Chris] Godwin coming back healthy. We got J-Mac [Jalen McMillan] coming back healthy, Tez [Johnson] after a full season. So, we feel confident we have those guys, but make no mistake about it, we'll miss the presence of that guy."
The Buccaneers lost their No. 1 target in Evans and quarterback Baker Mayfield's favorite target, but as Bowles noted, they're not staring at an empty cupboard at the position. David's departure, however, is going to be more difficult to recover from, Bowles admitted.
"Personally, this one really stung me," Bowles said of David's retirement. "It's gonna sting me from an attitude standpoint. … He was the guy off the field that got everyone going. He practiced that way, he carried himself that way. He was, right now, the cream of the crop of who you want to coach and how you want that guy to play. He was that guy. He was that guy for us for 14 years. I can't say enough good things about him. He was like a brother to me."
Bowles could have used a brother to help him through the disappointment of the 2025 season, a campaign that began with astronomically high hopes but ended with a thud and a profanity-laced tirade about which Bowles is still being asked. The rant was out of character for the usually reserved Bowles, but illustrated just how frustrated the organization was by the end of the year.
It's a place the Buccaneers don't plan on revisiting in 2026.
"I don't believe I got fined, but it was 10 times worse than that in the locker room," Bowles said. "Sometimes you get pissed and it's gotta come out. It has to come out. It came out more calmer in the press than it did in the locker room. But g--d--- it, I care."
Caring is important, especially in a business that routinely chews up and discards those who aren't wholly invested. Given how close he came to being fired, Bowles likely appreciates the opportunity to coach the Buccaneers more now than ever.
But the pressure is on. If Tampa Bay produces another clunker of a finish in 2026, it's reasonable to expect the club to move on from Bowles, despite the success he's consistently produced during his tenure.
He'll need to achieve it by leaning on a few different leaders. Fortunately, he has plenty of experience serving as one.
