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: Is this the year Yaya Diaby takes his play to the next level?

ANSWER: Yes, I believe we’re going to see the best of Yaya Diaby this season in Tampa Bay. After all, Diaby is entering a contract year in 2026 and may or may not get a contract extension prior to the season. The Bucs would like to keep Diaby for the long term, and the guess is that he’ll get a four-year extension prior to free agency in 2027.

The key to that happening was the drafting of Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round rather than signing a big-name free agent like Trey Hendrickson or making a big trade for Maxx Crosby – both of whom earn in excess of $30 million per year. With Bain being on his affordable rookie deal for the next four years, the team can afford Diaby’s price tag, which will be north of $20 million with his extension. Bain received a four-year deal worth $23,760,24, including over $13 million in a signing bonus. In one year Diaby will likely make what Bain is making over four years.

Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby and Lions QB Jared Goff – Photo by: USA Today

Diaby isn’t as appreciated as he should be because he has yet to record double-digit sacks, but he’s certainly capable of it. He had a 7.5-sack season to lead the Bucs as a rookie in 2023 and then led the team again with seven sacks last year. So literally converting three more pressures to sacks would completely change the narrative around Diaby.

But over the past two seasons that Diaby has been a full-time starter he’s been a force when it comes to pressures, totaling 132, including 70 in 2024 and 62 last year. And Diaby rightfully complained at the end of the 2025 season that he felt like he was alone out there rushing the quarterback, referencing the fact that pass-rushing defensive tackle Calijah Kancey only played in three games out of 17, and implying that free agent bust Haason Reddick wasn’t doing much as a pass rusher.

Now playing opposite either Bain or free agent addition Al-Quadin Muhammad, and with Kancey healthy, Diaby should be primed for a big season. He won’t be receiving as much attention with Tampa Bay’s defensive line now having multiple threats that offensive coordinators and quarterbacks have to be concerned about. I think it’s possible that Diaby can get seven sacks on his own in one-on-one situations, and then get a handful of clean-up sacks with Kancey and Bain flushing quarterbacks in his direction. So I could certainly see a 10-12-sack season happening for Diaby this year.

QUESTION: Will Baker Mayfield finally lock in this season?

ANSWER: I think Baker Mayfield is always locked in. That’s just his personality, his mental makeup, and his competitive nature. If you mean, when is Mayfield going to take the next step and get this team deep into the playoffs? Then that’s a different question. Look no further than the 2024 season when offensive coordinator Liam Coen took Mayfield‘s game to new heights with a system and scheme that was tailor-made for Mayfield‘s strengths.

In 2024, Mayfield set a franchise record with a 71.4% completion percentage while throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. The offense was top five in scoring, averaging 29 points per game and Mayfield had a Pro Bowl season. Is this what you were referring to when you say locked in?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Injuries to the offensive line and Mayfield himself derailed the Bucs offense last year under new play-caller Josh Grizzard. The Bucs took more deep shots in 2025 in Grizzard’s offense and I don’t think that helped Mayfield’s accuracy or the team’s offensive production.

Under new offensive coordinator Zack Robinson, I think the Bucs will return to more of what they did successfully in 2024 with more short, rhythmic passes to get the ball in the hands of the team‘s weapons and let them get yards after catch. That is when Mayfield is at his best, reading the defense and throwing the ball to the open receiver.

Mayfield has done some more television commercials as he has settled into becoming Tampa Bay’s quarterback. I’m sure there are some naïve fans that believe that the commercials that he shot in the off-season somehow had a negative impact on his on-field performance during football season. That’s just simply not the case.

And I’m sure Mayfield’s detractors may point to the fact that he was filming “The Quarterback” series for Netflix as a reason for his subpar 2025 season. The Quarterback debuts in a few weeks this June, but didn’t play a role in the Bucs offense underachieving last season.

Remember, Tampa Bay was 6-2 while The Quarterback was being filmed and Mayfield was being touted as an early candidate for NFL MVP honors while turning in masterful performances early in the season before he got hurt, including out-dueling Sam Donald and beating Seattle, 38-35 on the road.

QUESTION: Who do you think in the division took the biggest step forward via the draft? The Buccaneers draft was a good one but so was the Saints and Panthers.

ANSWER: Well, it’s not Atlanta, right? I was not impressed by the Falcons’ draft at all, and I don’t think many were. Nor have I been impressed with Atlanta’s offseason in general.

And that includes the hiring of former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to lead the team, replacing Raheem Morris. Stefanski had a pair of 11-win seasons in Cleveland, but he’s coming to Atlanta with an 8-26 record with the Browns over the last two years. I could see the Falcons actually taking a step back from the 8-9 record they’ve produced over the past two seasons and being the worst team in the NFC South in 2026.

To answer your question, I think the Bucs had the best draft in the division, and that will help Tampa Bay maintain the fact that it has the most talented roster in the NFC South. But I would say New Orleans had the second-best draft in the division.

Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Patrick Breen

With the Saints betting that Tyler Shough, last year’s second-round pick, can be the team’s franchise quarterback, head coach Kellen Moore gave him plenty of weapons to throw to in the draft with first-round receiver Jordyn Tyson and third-round tight end Oscar Delp on the first two days of the draft. Then the Saints used two Day 3 picks on wide receivers Bryce Lance and Barion Brown to really stockpile the position that needed it with just Chris Olave being the only threat at receiver heading into the offseason. I also like the addition of guard Jeremiah Wright in the fourth round.

Carolina had the third-best draft in my opinion. The Panthers used first- and third-round picks on left tackle Monroe Freeling and center Sam Hecht, and used their second-round pick on defensive tackle Lee Hunter. General manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales made the trenches a priority this offseason, taking a page out of Jason Licht’s playbook in Tampa Bay.

So that’s how I would rate the drafts – Bucs, Saints, Panthers and Falcons in that order. And I think that is how the NFC South race will pan out this year with Tampa Bay back on top and New Orleans and Carolina duking it out for second place with Atlanta being the cellar dweller of the division.

QUESTION: Scott, with a little fortune, and a lot of patience from the front office (Jason Licht), the front 7 overhaul of talent and attitude fell into place splendidly. Also upgraded offense and special teams staffs. Why does it feel like we are gonna be pulling our eyelids off anyway with the known yearly Todd Bowles flaws?

ANSWER: Well, let’s hope not. I do feel like the Bucs have leveled up their front seven and their coaching staff – on offense, defense and special teams – this offseason. Let’s hope head coach Todd Bowles can level up, too. It’s not a great look when the Bucs lose a winnable game or two each year to a lesser opponent, nor is it a good look when Tampa Bay continues to lose three or four games in a row each year.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

That’s now happened in each of the last four years and it’s getting ridiculous. That’s been a huge reason why the Bucs haven’t surpassed 10 wins in four seasons with Bowles as the head coach. Bowles hit 10 wins once in four seasons in New York with the Jets in 2015, and again with a 10-win season in 2024 in Tampa Bay. But it’s the losing streaks and losing winnable games that the team had no business losing to that has prevented Bowles’ Bucs from winning more.

It’s astonishing that Mike Macdonald won 14 games and a Super Bowl in just his second season as head coach in Seattle. And former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen left Tampa Bay after the 2024 season without taking a single assistant coach with him to take over as head coach in Jacksonville. In his first year as a head coach, Coen turn a 4-13 Jaguars team into a 13-4 squad that won the AFC South. In 50 years of the Buccaneers’ existence the franchise has only won 13 games once – in 2021 – which makes what Coen did in Jacksonville quite remarkable.

Bowles needs to find a way to stop the losing streaks in Tampa Bay this season. He also needs to win the winnable games and beat every opponent in which the Bucs are favored. Bowles also needs to take advantage of far better talent on defense this year, especially along the front seven, and become a better play-caller in 2026. Tampa Bay’s offense should return to form as a potential top 5 scoring unit. Now it’s time for some balance and for the Bucs defense to step up in 2026.