2026 has been a year of change in Tampa.
Coach Todd Bowles averted a layoff after a disappointing finish to 2025, but is left to pick up the pieces as the Buccaneers push forward into 2026. The process will include adjusting the roster to replace the loss of two franchise icons.
Legendary Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans left for San Francisco in free agency. His equally respected defender, linebacker Lavonte David, retired after 14 years with the Buccaneers. To properly respond to their departures, Bowles first had to process their departures.
“Oh man, that was tough,” Bowles said Monday 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. It’s very difficult to see him go emotionally and professionally from that point of view for me and everyone else involved.
“But we have a lot of guys who can step up in the room with Emeka [Egbuka], [Chris] Godwin returns safe and sound. We got J-Mac [Jalen McMillan] coming back safe, Tez [Johnson] after a whole season. So we’re confident we’ve got those guys, but make no mistake, we’re going to miss that guy’s presence.”
The Buccaneers lost their No. 1 target in Evans and quarterback Baker Mayfield, but as Bowles noted, they’re not staring at an empty closet at the position. However, recovering from David’s departure will be more difficult, Bowles admitted.
“Personally, that one really stung me,” Bowles said of David’s retirement. “It’s going to hurt me from an attitude standpoint. … He was the guy off the field that got everybody going. He practiced that way, he carried himself that way. He was, right now, the cream 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.”