“After Speaking To The Glazers”
February 13th, 2026
Two members of Team Glazer.
It’s downright rare to hear a reporter talk about chatting with Team Glazer during a season unless it was part of a Buccaneers Ring of Honor event.
The Bucs owners are known for avoiding media during an NFL season like Joe avoids lima beans, warm beer and NBA preseason games.
So Joe’s ears perked up hearing Rob Maaddi on WDAE radio this week. Maaddi is the chief NFL writer for the Associated Press. He’s an important guy in NFL media, one who reaches loads of fans nationwide. Maaddi also happens to reside in the Tampa Bay area and he spends a healthy share of time at One Buc Palace.
“…After speaking to the Glazers during the season at some point and pointing out how Tony Dungy was revered in this organization yet he was fired, Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl yet he was fired, I thought [the Bucs] were going to head in that direction [with Todd Bowles,]” Maaddi said.
“Instead, they blew up half of the coaching staff, which means that Todd Bowles is entering this season on a hot seat.”
Joe is not going to read between lines here, but it certainly was an intriguing take by Maaddi, who was not asked about the Bucs retaining Bowles; he was asked about the Bucs’ next moves given the 2026 pressure on Bowles and general manager Jason Licht.
Maaddi went on to say Bowles didn’t have enough talent and the Bucs desperately need an elite pass rusher.
“What bringing back Todd Bowles tells me is ownership understood that they can’t blame this entirely on the head coach when he didn’t have the pieces on the roster,” Maaddi said.
Joe understands the sentiment, but Joe cannot buy that the Bucs didn’t have enough talent to close out the Falcons in December, or to beat the Panthers 10 days later — or to compete with the tanking Dolphins in Miami after that. That doesn’t add up. And if it was a talent issue, then why dump a hearty pile of assistant coaches?
February 13th, 2026 at 6:24 pm
The defense was missing players and still played decent down the stretch. The offense fell apart because of the O-line injury collapse. It’s pretty simple what happened. It sucked, but it’s a long NFL season…
February 13th, 2026 at 6:28 pm
Then if this is true u trade for max Crosby. I dont want to hear it. You pony up. You trade and he has a relationship with sptrek. Get it done. A first and a second next year and move on
He isn’t getting two firsts. Hes injured. Hes not Micah Parsons
Jason cant draft dline go get him. And you got to tell Todd he isnt using him in coverage. At all and if he does hes fired. End of story. This teams gotta take four guys and rush
February 13th, 2026 at 6:37 pm
Munch: “it was baker”.
February 13th, 2026 at 6:42 pm
Offense was terrible down the stretch only good game was the Atlanta game after that they went full dungy ball defense never had the personnel and couldn’t tackle. Bowles is on the hot seat with Tomlin looming that’s if they don’t just blow the team up
February 13th, 2026 at 6:47 pm
It means another bad season licht and Bowles hit the road together. Not saying I want that but thats the feeling I get more and more.
February 13th, 2026 at 7:06 pm
No way in hell I’m trading 2027 draft picks with that QB class. If Baker doesn’t improve we need to move on and save a pile of cash to utilize elsewhere.
February 13th, 2026 at 7:12 pm
3rd and 28, I was there still having nightmares
February 13th, 2026 at 7:20 pm
What qb would u take next year then
February 13th, 2026 at 7:28 pm
” If Baker improves” Thats hilarious ,dude has half a bad year cause he couldn’t get a block! You guys are on dope
February 13th, 2026 at 7:37 pm
Right on, Joe. Excuses are not what the fans want. They had enough talent to beet the Niners and Seahawks in consecutive weeks.
Down the stretch, it was obviously everyone else’s fault but Todd’s and now we can expect great changes and top shelf gameplanning, scheming, practice discipline and coaching. Hey, he’s proven it with 3 winning seasons out of 8 with a playoff victory to boot.
Super Bowles.
February 13th, 2026 at 7:41 pm
It’s perfectly fair to criticize the pieces on defense.
He’s no dungy.
He’s closer to gruden but still not gruden.
Those coaches have actual HC accomplishments
February 13th, 2026 at 7:47 pm
I’m with you there Joe. Doesn’t add up.
Sounds like everyone was happy with winning division titles, from the Glazers down to the rookies and perhaps the team dropped those games cause they thought it would be easy. A foregone conclusion they would win 2 of the last 5 and get in.
Thats a mindset that invades even the best teams at times. Jared Verse is quoted recently as thinking they would roll the Seahawks and then not knowing how to figure it up and up their game when things went sideways.
Comes back to leadership and coaching. Guys will get complacent and think they are on easy street if no one is ripping heads off and demanding accountability.
Question now is… are Todd and Jason’s seats so hot that they swing for Crosby? Or do they double dip and sign a less heralded FA Edge while also picking one 1st round?
February 13th, 2026 at 7:48 pm
3rd and 28
February 13th, 2026 at 8:01 pm
I watched the best qb this year run for his life last week from a 4 man rush can we get a block please
February 13th, 2026 at 8:05 pm
We need a rotation of big boys on the D line. Life a DC is a lot easier when you’re putting the QB on his back consistently. When you can’t do that, you try to get creative (Bowles). If we had a D line like Seattle, I doubt you’d see so many stunts, blitzes, and lineman downfield.
Got get beasts Jason. Then Edge and LB. Draft and FA.
Build front to back. Football GM 101.
February 13th, 2026 at 8:25 pm
Head Coaches who win can motivate.
.500 Head Coaches cannot.
Who was responsible for the feckless assistants?
February 13th, 2026 at 8:33 pm
They had enough talent to go 6-2 before the bye week…
That’s with Wirfs starting the year on the PUP list & Cody Mauch going down after 2 games-lost for the season…Only having Chris Godwin for 2 games & Mike Evans playing in 4 but only producing 1 TD.
How is it that the team got WORSE after most of the team got healthy & returned to the lineup???
I’ll tell you…Tristian Wirfs had 1/2 the TD’s that Chris Godwin produced on the year & 1/3 the # Mike Evans did….While 2 Rookie’s more than doubled what those (2) $20M/yr WR’s gave the team.
Talent was not a problem….High priced players not producing was.
The exact same could be said for McCullum & Reddick on DEF…In a year that Jamel Dean had to take a major pay cut – He actually led the team in INT’s & FF’s, while those other 2 guys were rubbish & basically stealing paychecks.
February 13th, 2026 at 8:41 pm
I’ve seen other rosters play better with less! This is what makes me dislike Bowles and the new apathetic culture. This isn’t the house Brady built!!!
February 13th, 2026 at 8:46 pm
3rd and 28 and its called tackle football soft
February 13th, 2026 at 9:06 pm
Glazers spent a lot of $$ making themselves look like they loved the Bucs fan base with the 50th anniversary doc BUT did they prove it?? IMO no!..or we buccos would have alot more optimism about our upcoming year ! Maybe they have already decided to move on to one of these other HCs that have decided to sit out this year and in the meantime hope that some miracle materializes..lol..like the Buc faithful 🤔
February 13th, 2026 at 9:29 pm
1-7 to skid into the end of the season
Start 3-0 with last second, last drive wins
The issues are deep and systemic
It’s painful to watch
February 13th, 2026 at 9:29 pm
“I’ve seen other rosters play better with less! This is what makes me dislike Bowles and the new apathetic culture. This isn’t the house Brady built!!!” – Architek
EXACTLY!!!
February 13th, 2026 at 9:31 pm
So many excuses to keep this clown. This is a sure sign to me of tank season. Bucs fans expectations are already low if we suck its expected. This is a tanker amd then we bring in the next head coach with a shiny new toy.
February 13th, 2026 at 9:34 pm
Depleted O-line shifting positions led to early pocket collapses and the offensive coordinator failed to adapt.
February 13th, 2026 at 9:44 pm
Brady got out while the getn was good!
February 13th, 2026 at 9:47 pm
Any game changing free agent will be too expensive for the Bucs. The Bucs will make their draft choices and may sign a few low-cost free agents. I could even see the Bucs trading away a key player or 2 before the trade deadline to a team that needs help to get into the playoffs. Stock up for the 2027 draft and freeing up money for the future.
February 13th, 2026 at 9:55 pm
Finally someone said it Mr.Op your the best!
February 13th, 2026 at 10:16 pm
If the players love Bowles then they would have run through fire for him. That said, this team gave up, and that’s on the coach.
February 13th, 2026 at 10:18 pm
“It’s GlazerHOUSE, please get our name right. And, sure, believe whatever you want about why we kept Todd. Bottom line, we suck!” – Hugh
February 13th, 2026 at 10:19 pm
Joe is appeasing the fans with his constant bashing of Todd and his coaching. Joe raved all 2024 about getting Reddick and he was a total wash. Joe wants a big name edge to write articles about and knocks the scheme, but when we had the guys up front for the SB season and before we had success with the same scheme. Was Shaq and JPP dropping into coverage too? We never see articles about that. Lazy reporting. At least Joe put down the bottle this year before doing podcasts. Hi LD
February 13th, 2026 at 10:54 pm
Its all about the guys upfront just ask trent dilfer!
February 14th, 2026 at 12:01 am
I just noticed something. In that photo his sister towers over Joel Glazer. I don’t think they have the same biological father. Mommy Glazer obviously liked tall football players.
February 14th, 2026 at 12:09 am
Ring of LOSER Jason Licht is GARBAGE
12 years – .449 losing %
Brady’s gone and so is Gronk and all the Brady signees.
If it was “Jason licht” then why can’t he sign any decent FA’s?
Well? Because he sucks as a GM outside of Brady. He sucked before Brady and now sucks post Brady.
February 14th, 2026 at 12:43 am
Move along please. Nothing here to see. Move along please. It’s a Bucs life,
February 14th, 2026 at 12:50 am
I don’t buy that for a second. They are arguably one of the top 10 teams in the NFL as far as talent on the roster. The big downfall on defense, as always, is consistent pressure from the front 4.
The offense just needs their line and receiving corp to stay healthier this year
February 14th, 2026 at 1:03 am
4th and 14… Vildumb playing press man. nuff said.
February 14th, 2026 at 1:11 am
Joe understands the sentiment, but Joe cannot buy that the Bucs didn’t have enough talent to close out the Falcons in December, or to beat the Panthers 10 days later — or to compete with the tanking Dolphins in Miami after that. That doesn’t add up. And if it was a talent issue, then why dump a hearty pile of assistant coaches?
————-
Baker literally single handedly lost all those games.
Vs the Falcons, he just had to complete a pass even I can make. Vs the Panthers, he’s got 2 guys standing wide open, and instead throws to Mike Evans who had already cut up field and was covered in any case. Two guys, wide open, on 10 yards down field, the other like 20, no one around, easy pass. The team was already in FG range to at least tie it up, and Baker blew it again. Then vs Miami, literally one of Bakers worst games ever when it mattered most.
Bowles defense was 10th in points against in the final 6 game.
Baker, meanwhile, didn’t give the team a chance to win.
If Baker’s health was the issue, then with him healthy, the team goes 12-5.
In any case, with Baker playing that incredibly poorly from week 7 on, you weren’t getting any good coaching candidates, you were going to get stuck with another middling coach just like Bowles, just on a new contract with at least 3 or 4 more years of this.
Instead, one more year, see if Baker bounces back – if not, then you’re cleaning house top to bottom. If it was just health, then this is a playoff team, so why are you making changes when the defense was doing its job at the end of the year.
February 14th, 2026 at 3:50 am
Don’t forget.
Bowles has been in Salary Cap hell every year since he became head coach.
This will be the first year that we don’t owe money to Brady or Jensen or anybody else!
The post Super Bowl re-build actually just started.
February 14th, 2026 at 3:56 am
2024: 60-80 million in dead cap hits
2025: 38 million in dead cap hits
2026: only Mike Evans contract has an effect
In 2024 and 2025: we were still paying Shaq Barrett, Tom Brady, Jensen, Gage and others.
This is our FIRST season since the Super Bowl where our salary cap situation is normal.
February 14th, 2026 at 4:14 am
coach is pretty good at getting the bucs to come flying out the gate most years, like greyhounds…
then comes the lull…
the zombie effect…
the sleepwalking and the quicksand…
it’s freakin’ crazy bro…
then the last ditch effort to pull things together and save the season down the stretch…
it’s a wacky blueprint to keep doing every season…
this upcoming season has no room for skeezin’
February 14th, 2026 at 7:18 am
Rod Munch is an idiot
February 14th, 2026 at 7:29 am
Rod Munch, even though you and I have differing opinions on our qb, I actually am in agreement with your approach to how the offseason began and what this next year means.
As much as it sucks to acknowledge the fact that we could be delaying the inevitable, it was a bad year to need a new head coach. Running it back one more year will have us all saying “Hooray, we were wrong!” or it gets blown up, a new coach with less competition and a new start.
Just remember everyone, that new start doesn’t mean we are the Patriots with Vrabel. That is the outlier. If you thought patience is difficult know, just wait until you have to embrace a rebuild.
February 14th, 2026 at 7:34 am
We’re not going to compare Bowles and his .500 record to two superbowl winning coaches in Gruden and Dungy. This team is soft and the defense sucks cause if Bowles. Look at the trends the last 3 seasons. Not a talent problem and if it was then Licht should have been fired cause he is responsible for bringing in talent. This is just an excuse by the owners. Come October when the mid season slump starts like it does every year all of us fans can go we told you so.
February 14th, 2026 at 7:46 am
I have been as loud as anyone that Bowles must go and the Glazers screwed this up by not making the move. But even I will admit this isn’t all on Bowles. It truly has been a “team” effort.
1) injuries – do I really need to explain any further? Offense never had a chance. But good coaching staffs figure out ways to over come them… Just look at SF.
2) horrid special teams – cost Bucs games this season
3) BAD roster on defense. It’s awful from top to bottom. Mostly a bunch of JAGs
4) Culture/leadership??? This team quit back half of season and something was completely off in locker room. Look at the things said about “bored” players, effort, etc Team had NO fire.
5) No accountability just excuses. Plays poorly to those outside the locker room.
Add this all together means this regime should have cleaned house including the GM who provided the roster. But they didn’t and here we are. I have no faith the roster on defense will be revamped and Bowles is the guy to lead this organization. Zero. He has àhad his chance as had JL. Brady and Gronk and LF and JPP and Shaq are long gone. Organization caught some magic and capitalized and I do not see them finding that again with this regime. Nope. Just delaying the inevitable… Denial and tone deaf at One Buc.
February 14th, 2026 at 7:53 am
You can’t give Bowles a pass for lack of talent. Todd has worked hand, in hand with Licht as head coach for the last four years, going on five. Don’t tell me he didn’t want to draft any of the players he has on defense. Dennis was his pet project. Morrison in the second round was all Todd, it’s his friends kid. Bowles just hired his son, sound familar? This roster is as much on him, as it is on Licht, and both have failed the last four years. They will fail in year five, and next year will be a total house cleaning, players included.
February 14th, 2026 at 8:32 am
The biggest lack of talent we have is at the Head Coaching position.