Justin Skule Returns
April 6th, 2026
Veteran offensive tackle Justin Skule didn’t make too many enemies among Vikings fans during his nine starts for Minnesota last year.
That’s a good sign for Bucs fans.
Today, the Bucs announced they re-signed Skule, who bolted Tampa for Minnesota a year ago following three seasons in pewter and red.
Joe loves the depth signing. The Bucs seem determined to recover from the Charlie Heck experience. Heck was signed to back up Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke last season but, after watching Heck all spring and summer, the Bucs refused to play the veteran at left tackle.
First the Bucs re-worked their entire offensive line to move center Graham Barton to left tackle to replace Wirfs, and later in the season undrafted rookie Ben Chukwuma played in place of Wirfs.
This year, the Bucs will have Skule and Chukwuma on the roster.
Skule, 29, was tight with Wirfs during his three Bucs seasons and was well-liked among the tight-knit offensive linemen.
For those who missed it, the Dolphins pounced on Heck in free agency. Are they still tanking?
April 6th, 2026 at 3:24 pm
Next: Guard depth
April 6th, 2026 at 3:25 pm
He is not that good of an NFL OT, but he is better than Heck.
April 6th, 2026 at 3:30 pm
Great signing. Much needed depth.
April 6th, 2026 at 3:33 pm
The return of the Skule
I love this signing, we needed more depth at tackle
April 6th, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Munch! Hahahaha!
April 6th, 2026 at 3:48 pm
Actually, he’s a HECK of a lot better than Heck…
April 6th, 2026 at 3:52 pm
This I don’t mind. Come back and compete with Chukwama, who better be somewhere working out with Tristan Wirfs as I type this.
April 6th, 2026 at 3:57 pm
Skule’s natural position is left tackle, have him backup Wirfs but not Goedeke. Move Chukwuma to RT2 or even guard. I think Chukwuma has a lot of potential. How good can he be?
April 6th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
Being reminded of last year’s OLine shuffle, I wonder if it was a creation of Grizzard. It had its early moments, but over the season the line never meshed and players never got comfortable. In particular, I think Barton’s getting away from center in only his second year hurt his development. I also wonder if the lack of familiarity with positions contributed to injuries. I know it’s second-guessing long after the fact, but we might be able to learn something in retrospect.
April 6th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
Kenton, I was thinking the same thing. He’ll probably show up later, insisting that he was personally responsible for three or four losses last season he was here.
April 6th, 2026 at 4:07 pm
JL is having a great off-season.
Depth added at OT is always welcomed.
Draft needs seem clear:
LBer, Edge, CB, Guard.
April 6th, 2026 at 4:11 pm
We never truly recovered from the loss of Stinnie
April 6th, 2026 at 4:27 pm
The hits keep coming. This year as a BIG DUMP>
April 6th, 2026 at 4:28 pm
Whoop de Doo!
April 6th, 2026 at 4:30 pm
HC Grover Says:
April 6th, 2026 at 4:27 pm
The hits keep coming. This year as a BIG DUMP>
Blah blah blah
April 6th, 2026 at 4:32 pm
HC Grover Says:
April 6th, 2026 at 4:28 pm
Whoop de Doo!
Wah wah wah… wah-wah wah…”
April 6th, 2026 at 4:44 pm
HC Grover Says
“The hits keep coming. This year as a BIG DUMP”
So…not a Bucs fan. Got it.
April 6th, 2026 at 5:02 pm
This is the kind of signing that hugely positively raises our chances late season and into the playoffs. Eventually, someone will get nicked up enough they should probably sit a week and Skule will provide that flexibility safely. Brilliant move, JL! Now if we could find a guard/center we’ll be totally set! Much rather get in free agency than be forced to draft one potentially reaching on a pick.
Also- nothing negatively affected Barton’s development. He just lost the starters on either side of him for the rest of the season which would make *anyone* look a lot worse.
April 6th, 2026 at 5:14 pm
Now look for one OL to be drafted with tackle experience but projected as a guard in nfl. Usually because of short arms. If they keep adding depth pieces it allows them to draft best players available instead of need based picks
Good addition and hope I never say “Charlie Heck “ ever again
April 6th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Joe: “Are they still tanking” !!
ROUGH!
😂🤣😂
They must be
April 6th, 2026 at 5:35 pm
I’m good with signing Skule back.
He got lit up by Aidan Hutchinson, but after that he settled in a bit and was serviceable.
He’s much needed depth for the O-line, he’s played with these guys before so he knows them and the system.
And it increases the likelihood we can focus all of our draft on the defense.
April 6th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Excellent job Licht!!!!
April 6th, 2026 at 6:17 pm
Wait- why isn’t anyone dumping on Jason for signing Heck? He’s supposed to have a keen eye for OLs.. Jason “Ring of Honor”.. more like Jason “Ring of Honorable Mention”
April 6th, 2026 at 6:48 pm
Sucke sucks – if he makes the team, it’s the biggest indictment of Licht yet.
And yes, he was awful last year. Every time the stupid Vikings were on TV, and Sucke was playing, you’d see him give up at least one sack and generally give up a bunch of pressures. He’s terrible.
April 6th, 2026 at 6:48 pm
Vanessa
We’re on our third or fourth system in 4 years.
April 6th, 2026 at 7:22 pm
I liked him, glad we got him back. Now if we can just get the Bucs to refuse to play McColumn. Man he dropped off the cliff!!!. Last year he had to rank in at 32 out of 32 starting corners. He might have been worse than Heck at his position. Surely the Bucs are not thinking of starting either him or Morrison. Maybe Morrison has a shot to improve if he can stay healthy. McColumn, in my opinion is a lost cause. May Miami is interested?
April 6th, 2026 at 7:32 pm
Solid signing. It raises the floor of the OT depth.
April 6th, 2026 at 7:43 pm
Really can’t go wrong with this re-signing for depth. Great setup for a camp with a lot of competition after the draft.
April 6th, 2026 at 7:49 pm
Rod munch,
Terrible’? Based on what—one Vikings game you half-watched? O-line play isn’t sacks on a stat sheet, it’s technique, assignments, and consistency snap to snap—and you clearly aren’t grading any of that. He wasn’t elite, but acting like he was a turnstile is just flat-out wrong.
And the ‘biggest indictment of Jason Licht’ line is laughable. The same GM who built one of the best rosters in franchise history suddenly forgot how to evaluate linemen? Yeah, okay.
If he makes this team, it’s because he earned it in camp—not because the front office is clueless.
April 6th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
RodMunch,
Is RodMunch your name or your hobby? Skule your favorite lineman will fit in well with your favorite 4th string OG’s. Since when did you start caring about keeping Mayfield healthy?
April 6th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
We never should’ve let him go. He was one of our best backups who worked beautifully at left tackle.
April 6th, 2026 at 8:32 pm
For a backup, Skule was good and held his own after the first disastrous game against Hutchinson. I, too, was dismayed when Tampa let him slip away last year and signed Heck in hopes of replacing him.
The signing tells me that OL is not a priority in the draft and that IF the Bucs grab one, it’ll be day three, probably pick 6 or 7.
Fine with me. This draft should be all defense with the exception of maybe one pick for the offense and with that one, personally, I’d grab a tight end since they don’t seem to really believe in Culp for whatever reason.
April 6th, 2026 at 8:37 pm
Good bye Elijah Klein … I had hopes.. back to El Paso, young man .
April 6th, 2026 at 11:27 pm
I watched a cut up video of all his pass block snaps with the Vikings, he was TERRIBLE! Yes, worse than Heck.
April 7th, 2026 at 1:52 am
#99 the big fella Says:
April 6th, 2026 at 7:49 pm
Rod munch,
Terrible’? Based on what—one Vikings game you half-watched?
———
TWO games.
One I remember was on SNF I think, maybe MNF, but I was mocking Sucke repeatedly on this site for giving up two sacks I believe, and getting beat a bunch of times. He was truly awful. The other game was maybe TNF – and in the one half I watched, Sucke got beat like 3 times, including giving up a sack and another time he got ran over.
The only reason people think he ‘improved’ in 2024 was because Coen completely changed the offense because he was getting Baker killed. After the Broncos game where he was beyond horrific, Coen switched to much more of a quick passing offense and didn’t let Baker hold the ball. BTW, this is when we saw Baker at his best, when he was getting the ball out quickly (hint for Zac if you’re reading this).
Sucke is terrible. That’s a hill I’m willing to die on.
April 7th, 2026 at 1:53 am
Kayla Says:
April 6th, 2026 at 11:27 pm
I watched a cut up video of all his pass block snaps with the Vikings, he was TERRIBLE! Yes, worse than Heck.
———-
Yeah, it’s amazing the people that argue this point. No idea why – the guy was awful here, and every single time I saw him in Minnesota he would repeatedly get beat.
April 7th, 2026 at 7:48 am
this signing tells me OG is in play early in the draft!!!
OG-KADYN PROCTOR
GO BUCS!!!!
April 7th, 2026 at 7:50 am
At least he will feel at home in the locker room & should be familiar with the offense, he was on the team when the guy coaching the team in north Fla was the Bucs O-Cordinator so thats a plus. HIRE A DEFENSIVE CORDINATOR !!!!!! That would help change to a more aggressive DEFENSIVE scheme