Pressure, With A Capital P
September 11th, 2026
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
Everyone working at One Buc Place shares a common goal. That doesn’t mean they face the same level of pressure heading into the 2026 season.
Some in the organization are under more stress than others. Their professional futures depend on the results on the scoreboard, while others aren’t going anywhere, regardless of Tampa Bay’s record this fall.
For example, Tristan Wirfs will remain a Buccaneer fixture — even if the team inexplicably finishes in the NFC South basement. That’s not necessarily the case with two players and two coaches whose fate in Tampa are intertwined with team success.
Todd Bowles
Any conversation in this regard has to start with a head coach who enters the new year with a 35-33 career mark with the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has won one playoff game since Todd Bowles replaced Bruce Arians in 2022.
Bowles reeled off three consecutive division titles, providing ownership with revenues that accompany an additional home game in January. But he’s also the same head coach who opened 6-2 last season yet failed to make the playoffs in a division that couldn’t produce a winning team.
The Glazers continue to believe Bowles possesses many admirable qualities. They would prefer continuity at the top, but you’d have to think a division crown is the minimum bar Bowles has to clear in 2026. Even another 8-9 finish, accompanied by a first-round playoff flameout, should prompt serious consideration of a coaching change.
The Glazers are supposed to be hunting championships. Mediocrity shouldn’t be acceptable, especially during an era when the Falcons, Saints and Panthers have combined to go 79-125 during Bowles’ tenure as Buc head coach.
Bowles isn’t naive. He knows job security is fleeting in the NFL. He also knows if the Bucs go in another direction in 2027, he’d be a longshot to ever land a third head coaching job in the NFL.
That’s pressure, with a capital P.
Chris Godwin
Chris Godwin will turn 31 in February and his career has been derailed at times by injuries.
When healthy, and Godwin looks quite healthy at the moment, he’s a clutch receiver who thrives making contested catches in the slot. That’s a commodity hard to find in this league and Tampa Bay coaches are counting on a big year by the longest-tenured Buccaneer.
Still, the Bucs hold a club option on Godwin in 2027 and his salary is not guaranteed. If rookie Ted Hurst is the real deal and the Bucs falter, Godwin’s future with the organization would be tenuous.
Suppose Bowles no longer reports to One Buc. Where would that leave Zac Robinson?
New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson
Tampa Bay’s new offensive coordinator has a lot to prove this fall. First, he must prove he’s an upgrade from Josh Grizzard. He also needs to inject life into a drab attack still recovering from Liam Coen’s departure.
If Robinson gets this offense humming, the Glazers will make every effort to keep him in the organization. Other clubs might consider him as a head coach at that point.
It happened to Dave Canales and Coen.
There’s a lot of talent on this offense, more to work with than Robinson had in Atlanta the past two seasons. If the Bucs average 22 points per game again with a relatively healthy offensive line, Robinson could very well find himself packing his bags once again.
No matter what happens this fall, you would think the Bucs will make every effort to keep YaYa Diaby beyond the expiration of his rookie contract. Diaby has produced enough through three seasons for Jason Licht to lobby on his behalf to ownership.
YaYa Diaby
But signing Diaby to an extension after the season and giving him the money he’s looking for are two different things.
Diaby’s durability works in his favor. He hasn’t missed a game as a Buccaneer and 19 sacks is a decent total heading into the final year of his rookie deal. He has also averaged 16 QB hits and 13 tackles for loss.
Those are good numbers and Diaby’s production figures to rise if rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain proves to be the real deal.
But if Diaby’s metrics flatline, he probably won’t command the same 4-year, $100 million extension Pittsburgh just granted to linebacker Nick Herbig, also a member of the 2023 draft class.
The Bucs expect more from Diaby. He’s entering his prime at 27 and he’s surrounded by better talent on the front seven. A double-digit sack season will lead to a windfall … and the Glazers would be happy to write the check.
September 11th, 2026 at 7:30 pm
They need to resign Diaby now. YaYa will have the best season of his career. Defense will be focusing on Bain. Sign him now for 17 to 20 instead of the 25 – 30 million he will get at the end of the season.
September 11th, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I could live with paying Yaya 4 years at 20 million. 2 years guaranteed would be great. It’s likely to look cheap compared to after the season. I expect him to ball out this year. 10 sacks or more.
September 11th, 2026 at 8:21 pm
Superb article Sage, should get a lot of JBFers thinking. NOTHING is written in concrete right now though; the full season is all in front of us & the story has yet to be written. Bucs have talent; only real question is can it all come together to produce a winning team. I believe it can, but that’s still just a gut feel at this point. After last season, Bucs’ fans know not to take anything for granted.
September 11th, 2026 at 8:33 pm
The experts already proclaimed the Rams the champions. Anybody watch that disaster of a game last night? It’s why the old adage rings so true. That’s why they play the game. Several new pieces for the team this year. Should be good enough to keep Bowles and Chris both around. We’ll see who ends up benefitting the most from Bain being on the other side. Not so sure Diaby has the killer instinct to finish a quarterback off. Hope I’m wrong because they’re both young enough to create havoc for years to come on the edge. Very excited for Sunday’s game.
Go Bucs.
September 11th, 2026 at 8:34 pm
Fortunately, for Bowles, his defense will ball out this year. He does quite well when he gets pressure from the edge. I think we will get pressure from the edge an the interior. If the cornerbacks can cover for a couple of seconds, we will have a really great defense.
September 11th, 2026 at 8:42 pm
Maybe after the incoming 6 win season, the Glazers will do the right thing and fire Bowles and Licht. You know we live in a simulation, when anyone willingly pays Baker Mayfield $55 million dollars.
September 11th, 2026 at 10:06 pm
Agree D.R
September 11th, 2026 at 10:33 pm
Everyone has been paid off with guaranteed money.
Zero pressure to do anything but the status quo. .500 ball.
The putrid division will provide enough room to be terrible and still relevant enough to possibly lose a playoff game.
Bowles is terrible at both his jobs and is only here because Arians backdoor’d the franchise.
The Glazers are just a piggy bank with no brain cells. Ask Mike, he knows.
September 11th, 2026 at 11:13 pm
Doesn’t Yaya qualify for the franchise tag and/or transition tag after this season?
Also, based off the “just sacks” logic, what if Diaby finishes with like 8 sacks and a Walker/AQM get 6-7 on less snaps? I’d be interested in finding how much the talent around him factors into keeping Yaya, his value in contrast/concert with the guys around him.
September 12th, 2026 at 12:46 am
Is it really “pressure” if the glazers decide that 8-9 is ok because they get a fat check?
September 12th, 2026 at 6:09 am
No one is safe if this year is a failure, not even Wirfs Ira. He might go first if the Bucs go total rebuild. Wirfs would fetch the most draft capital of any current Buc, more so than Baker. A lot would depend on if they fire Licht. A new GM, HC, no one would be safe.
September 12th, 2026 at 6:18 am
Spot on, Ira.
September 12th, 2026 at 7:30 am
I would be very surprised if Godwin went anywhere else. But if he did look for him to maybe wind up in Jacksonville. I would not like that.
However it is an ironclad guarantee that the Bucs will exercise the option on CG for 27 if he is healthy.
September 12th, 2026 at 7:43 am
After we gave all that money to CG following the devastating injury I’d be shocked if we shoved him out the door
September 12th, 2026 at 8:30 am
CG has to take a cut. 20mil base salary as a club option in ’27. Chris will have to come off of that.
September 12th, 2026 at 10:10 am
THIS is a very honest and well put together piece from you Ira.
The only thing I need to say to you is “Well Done”.
September 12th, 2026 at 11:09 am
The thing is: people spout off about the Glazers being cheap. That’s not true at all. When I was a little boy starting about 1970 when I was ten, players only very rarely switched teams. There weren’t any bidding wars and as far as I can remember free agency didn’t really exist. I think it was somewhere in the late ’80s that free agency really took off. I think that was what the strike was about. After that deep pocket teams with egomaniac owners like Jerry Jones and Eddie Debartello with huge markets would buy up all the marquise players and just dominate the league. That’s why they imposed the salary cap. That gave us parity. It also gave us the major headache that will undoubtedly rear its ugly head come this off-season. We simply cannot pay everybody $20+ million a year even if we are willing. Yeah, we could mortgage the future, but one day you’ve got to pay the piper. Are we in a Super Bowl window?
September 12th, 2026 at 11:56 am
There is one reason Bowles is still here and will continue to be here no matter what happens this season. This failed head coach and miserable defensive coordinator has an uncanny ability to deflect blame no matter what goes wrong. He feels no remorse when it comes to making some one else a scape goat. And the Glazers swallow it hook, line and sinker.
The only reason Licht throws his support behind Bowles is to appease the Glazers.
Think about it. His pass defense is consistently near the bottom of the league, he led a monumental collapse last season, LOST THE TEAM and who can forget 3rd and 28. Yet the Glazers retain him for both his roles AND hire his son just to spite the overwhelming majority of fans who felt he needed to go.
I mean, how badly must he fail before losing his job? I am not sure a collapse of 2011 Raheem proportions would do it.
We are supposed to believe he is under pressure? On the hot seat? Uh huh. And Tampa will have a white Christmas this year.
September 12th, 2026 at 5:05 pm
LMAO. The Glazer’s are never happy spending money. They only smile when they make it.
September 12th, 2026 at 11:04 pm
What Bosch said!