Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Based on your knowledge on the internal feelings and expectations of the Bucs front office in regards to the offense in 2026, is it more likely the team extends Baker Mayfield this summer or at the end of the 2026 season? What is a fair deal for Mayfield in your opinion based on current QB market and contracts?

ANSWER: This is a great question, and one I don’t have the exact answer for. Here’s what I do know. The Bucs want Baker Mayfield to be their quarterback for the foreseeable future and want to sign him to a contract extension. I have every reason to believe that Mayfield, who has found a home in Tampa Bay, wants to keep playing for the team that took a chance on him to become a franchise quarterback again in 2023 and then rewarded him handsomely in 2024 with a three-year, $100 million contract extension.

So if both sides want to get a deal done, the only real question left is when it happens. I asked general manager Jason Licht at the NFL Annual Meeting what the timetable was for working on a contract extension with Mayfield and he didn’t really say. It’s either going to be this summer with an extension finalized during training camp before the start of the regular season, as the team has done before with offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke and cornerback Zyon McCollum, or it will wait until the end of the 2026 season.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Ray Seebeck

The only time I can remember Licht doing in-season extensions were for defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Vita Vea. McCoy’s extension came in October of 2014, which was Licht’s first season with the Bucs, and Vea’s extension came on January 8, 2022 with a week left in the 2021 season so that the team could spend some unused cap room before the end of the league year.

I could be wrong, but I got the sense from talking to Licht that he and the team would like to extend Mayfield right now, but that Mayfield would like to play this season out to see what the top end of his market value would be. Dallas’ Dak Prescott is still the league’s highest-paid quarterback at $60 million per year, and there are nine other QBs making at least $50 million per year. Right now Mayfield’s market value is at least $50 million.

If the Bucs were to release him today and he was a free agent, Mayfield would at least get $50 million, which would make him the 11th-ranked quarterback in terms of average salary per year. If Mayfield has another season like he had last year with 26 touchdowns or in 2023 with 28 touchdowns that’s the kind of money he’s looking at. But if Mayfield has another statistical season like he had with Liam Coen in 2024, throwing for 4,500 yards with 41 touchdowns with Zac Robinson taking over the number goes way up.

Let’s say Mayfield has that type of season and earns a $55 million per year deal on par with Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow and signs a four-year extension. That’s an extra $5 million per season, totaling $20 million over the course of the contract. In Mayfield’s mind, that might be worth shooting for, but he has yet to address his thoughts of his contract publicly.

QUESTION: I think Vega Ioane would be the smartest, safest pick and would solidify our O-line. This makes us better while an edge, in my opinion, is a hit or miss. So I’d rather see us take edge in rounds 2-4.

ANSWER: This is a very deep draft for edge rushers, and I like a couple of players that figure to be selected on Day 2, including Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas, Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell, UCF’s Malachi Lawrence, Illinois’ Gabe Jacas and Michigan’s Derrick Moore. Any of those players would help Tampa Bay’s pass rush off the edge this year.

Penn State G Olaivavega Ioane – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Mark J. Rebilas

Having said that, I would have no problem if the Bucs drafted Penn State left guard Olaivavega Ioane in the first round at No. 15. Ioane has been mocked to the Ravens at No. 14 by quite a few draft pundits, so if he’s still on the board at No. 15 when Tampa Bay is on the clock I wouldn’t blame general manager Jason Licht for taking him and solidifying the offensive line for years to come.

Last year, injuries rocked the Buccaneers offensive line with right guard Cody Mauch missing the last 15 games of the season with a knee injury he suffered in Week 2 and left guard Ben Bredeson missing six games due to knee and hamstring injuries. Drafting the 6-foot-4, 320-pound Ioane would give Tampa Bay a serious 1-2 punch on the left side of the offensive line with the rookie likely unseating Bredeson and turning him into the next Robert Hainsey as an experienced backup at guard and center. That would give the Bucs incredible value along the offensive line.

And if Mauch isn’t fully healed from his knee injury and doesn’t make a successful recovery during his contract year, then the Bucs would already have his replacement on the roster with Ioane, who plays with a nasty mean streak. Bredeson could resume being a starter in 2027 if the team were to let Mauch walk in free agency. So that’s how Ioane could upgrade Tampa Bay’s line this year and stabilize the guard position for years to come.

QUESTION: We’ve just watched our captain and defensive leader say he’s had enough, our first ballot Hall of Fame wide receiver thinks we can’t compete and walked. Oh, and we have the worst head coach in football. Can you give me some hope this season might not be the disaster I fear it will be?

ANSWER: Sure, I’ll look at the glass half full for you since you want some positivity. Tampa Bay started the season last year 6-2 with wins over San Francisco, which finished with a 12-5 record, and Seattle, which went 14-3 and won the Super Bowl. And while the team struggled down the stretch with a 2-7 finish after the bye week, they lost five games that were decided by four points or less.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Sure, the Bucs did suffer a couple of blowout losses after the bye week, losing at Buffalo by 12 points, 44-32, and then to the Rams in Los Angeles, 34-7. But this was a Tampa Bay team that finished 8-9 and lost the division and a chance at a playoff spot in a tiebreaker when the Falcons beat the Saints in the 2025 season finale.

Had the Bucs won just two of those five games that were decided by four points or less, Tampa Bay would have finished with a 10-7 record – again. That would have matched the team’s record from the previous year and I think that everyone would be feeling a lot better about the Buccaneers than they do right now. Had the Bucs beaten the Saints at home in a game where they had the lead at halftime, and held on to beat the Falcons, Tampa Bay wins another division title and has back-to-back 10-win seasons.

I like the direction the team is heading in this offseason, especially on defense. The Bucs defense has gotten bigger and added a few high-energy guys and a couple of ass-kickers that can hopefully make Todd Bowles’ unit more feared than it has been the last two seasons. If the Buccaneers have another good draft and find a couple of quality starters and continue to upgrade the defense it would not be far-fetched to see this team rebound in 2026 and get back to double-digit wins.

QUESTION: All the signings, including the hiring of new coaches, seem to be for one or two years only. Feels like the Bucs are setting up for a house-cleaning if this year does not go well. Thoughts?

ANSWER: Yes, I think a lot of what the Bucs have done this season is for short-term success. No outside free agent was signed for more than one year outside of linebacker Alex Anzalone, who signed a two-year deal, and the team bringing back tight end Cade Otton on a three-year contract extension. Tampa Bay also signed five players who are age 30 or older in Anzalone (31), defensive tackles A’Shawn Robinson (31) and Rakeem Nunez-Roches (32), outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad (31) and safety Miles Killebrew (32).

Bucs OLB Al-Quadin Muhammad and ILB Alex Anzalone – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Jeffrey Becker

New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson received a three-year contract, while new assistants Marcus West and Andrew Mitchell and promoted assistants Tim Atkins and Rashad Johnson all received two-year deals, which is an industry standard for NFL assistants.

This season does feel like a crossroads year for the franchise and head coach Todd Bowles after Tampa Bay regressed from 10-7 to 8-9 in 2025. I could see this team rebounding back to the playoffs and atop the division in 2026, or I could see the team stagnating if Bowles can’t get the defense turned around and/or Robinson fails as the team’s new play-caller.

So yes, I do think the Bucs are operating with a short-term window right now to see what kind of step the team takes this year. If it’s a step forward then I think we’ll see the Glazers open up the purse strings a little more in 2027. If the team does not take a step forward then I can see the Glazers make a coaching change after the season.