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: What do you see the snaps looking like early in the season at the “second” ILB spot next to Alex Anzalone? Full load for Josiah Trotter?

ANSWER: I think the Bucs would love for Josiah Trotter, the team’s second-round pick, to be able to come in and start right away at middle linebacker. I wouldn’t be surprised if head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles gives Trotter the opportunity to show he can handle it right away rather than waiting to make sure Trotter is ready to start because experience is the greatest teacher. Sometimes a player has to be thrown into the fire to truly learn and develop because there is only so much you can learn from mental reps on the sidelines and watching film.

Bowles already knows what he’s got in SirVocea Dennis, who was the 17-game starter last year. Dennis proved to be an adequate starter and an upgrade over K.J. Britt, but not an ideal starter, which is why the team spent a second-rounder on Trotter. So if Trotter fails to succeed early on and needs to take a step back to regroup, Bowles can always turn to Dennis due to his experience.

Bucs ILB Josiah Trotter – Photo by: Adam Warren/PR

And with Dennis in a contract year in 2026, he’ll likely try to play his best football to best position himself in free agency. There’s also a world where Bowles could platoon Dennis and Trotter at Mike linebacker, but is either one really adept in coverage? Probably not. Dennis was better than Britt in coverage early in the 2024 season before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

How good Trotter can be in coverage at the NFL level remains to be seen and we’ll find out how much work he needs in this area in training camp and the preseason. Trotter is only 21 and had just two years of playing experience at the college level. Yet he showed in one season at West Virginia as a true freshman and one season at Missouri as a true sophomore that he was talented enough and enough of a quick study to see the field early. So maybe that trend continues at the NFL level in his first season in Tampa Bay.

Despite playing the weakside linebacker position, known as the Money ‘backer – or Mo linebacker, Alex Anzalone may wear the green dot and call the defense early on if Trotter is the starting Mike. That would take a big responsibility off the rookie’s plate and probably allow him to play faster as a result.

QUESTION: SR, how serious do you think the hold-in by Vita Vea is? Is this just similar to that of Tristan Wirfs from a few years ago? What are his expectations? Does he want a long-term deal, or is this something that a pay raise this year will alleviate this until next offseason?

ANSWER: I’m not sure how serious Vita Vea’s hold-in is, and I don’t want to necessarily speak for him. Yet you’re asking me these questions, so I’ll have to speculate a bit. I think in a perfect world for Vea, he gets a long-term contract extension with a pay raise prior to the start of training camp. Who wouldn’t want that, right?

At the same time, the Bucs probably don’t feel comfortable doing a long-term deal with a 31-year old defensive tackle. It’s not uncommon for injuries to set in and for production to fall off a cliff for most defensive linemen at some point in their 30s. Does that happen at age 31, 32, 33 or later? It’s different for every player because every defensive tackle is a unique human being in a unique human body.

Ndamukong Suh was still in his prime at the age of 32 when he came to Tampa Bay in 2019 and helped the team win the Super Bowl a year later. His final season with the Bucs came just two years later in 2021 at the age of 34 when he slowed down and his game clearly regressed. Suh wasn’t re-signed after the 2021 season and played in just eight games with Philadelphia the next year at age 35 before retiring from the NFL.

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There’s no crystal ball to look into Vea’s future and determine when his prime will be over. What the Bucs have done in years past with players age 30 or older is typically do one- or two-year extensions. In 2021, Lavonte David was given a two-year extension at the age of 31 after his five-year extension expired. In 2023 at the age of 33, the Bucs did a one-year extension, and continued that practice of one-year extensions in 2024 and in 2025. Mike Evans only signed a two-year extension in 2023 at the age of 30.

I think the Bucs would be open to giving Vea a pay raise because he’s underpaid and hopefully that would satisfy him. Right now, Vea is the 19th highest-paid defensive tackle in the league. If the team were to increase his 2026 pay by just under $4 million that would get his average per year from $17.75 million up to $21.5 million. That would tie him with 31-year old Leonard Williams of Seattle, for the 13th highest-paid defensive tackle in the league, and just ahead of Miami’s Zach Sieler and Dallas’ Kenny Clark, both of whom are 31, who make $21.333 million per year.

I’m not sure if Vea will be a hold-in during training camp or not. We’ll have to wait and see. Tristan Wirfs was a hold-in during the mandatory mini-camp in 2024 yet participated in individual drills in training camp because he missed being on the field with his teammates. Wirfs didn’t participate in team drills until his contract extension got finalized a few days into camp.

Yet Wirfs was also 25 – not 31 – and knew that the team was committed to getting an extension done before the start of the season. I think Tampa Bay makes Vea play out his contract year before he gets an extension.

QUESTION: What percentage chance does Garrett Greene have at making the final roster?

ANSWER: This is a great question because Garrett Greene, a practice squad receiver last year, is one of the forgotten players on the roster. Greene generated some real buzz in the preseason as a punt returner and a receiver, catching a touchdown pass last August. The former quarterback-turned-receiver is still an intriguing prospect that the team continues to develop.

The problem for Greene, who is a great athlete, is that he’s battling just as crowded of a receiver room as he was last year. While Mike Evans is gone, third-round pick Ted Hurst is his replacement. Tampa Bay’s depth chart features – in order – Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Hurst and Tez Johnson, who scored five touchdowns last year as the team’s seventh-round pick.

Bucs WR Garrett Greene – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With those five receivers just about set, Greene is vying for the sixth receiver spot on the depth chart, and that’s usually reserved for a return specialist. Last year, Kam Johnson was the primary punt and kickoff returner. He averaged 11.2 yards per punt return with a long of 54 yards, and averaged 25.4 yards per kick return with a long of 44 yards.

So Greene will have to beat out Johnson as well as newcomers like David Sills V, Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson, in addition to Dennis Houston, a holdover practice squader from a year ago. The guess here is that Greene could make the practice squad again with another impressive camp and preseason, but it will be an uphill battle for him to win a spot on the final 53-man roster.

QUESTION: With the Bucs taking a step back in DB experience losing Jamel Dean and Christian Izien, are there any veteran cornerbacks or safeties available that could provide talent and depth?

ANSWER: Yes, but they may be on other teams right now. The current available cornerbacks and safeties are mostly age 30 or older and are deemed to have lost a step, or perhaps in some cases those players either want too much money or don’t want to play on special teams at this stage of their career. In reality, the Bucs might be looking for an experienced CB4 on the depth chart behind Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison, and an experienced S3 behind Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith.

The problem is that CB4 and S3 have to play on special teams if they are not starters. That’s not to say that a 32-year old defensive back can’t cover kicks and punts, but the enthusiasm for doing so – or the aptitude – may not be ideal. I think veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas, who is 32, would be an ideal candidate for the Bucs to add, but we’ll see what happens.

Chiefs CB Kristian Fulton – Photo by: Reuters Connect

The closer it gets to the start of the regular season the more the prospect of a veteran sitting at home on the couch missing the game of football and the paychecks that come with it starts to sink in. That’s when the mindset of some veterans shift and their willingness to pay for less or play a role on special teams changes. The alternative is self-imposed retirement otherwise.

Josh Queipo mentioned that Kansas City cornerback Kristian Fulton, a former second-round pick, is 27 and might not make the roster this year. He could be had via a trade or Jason Licht might acquire him or a similar defensive back on waivers or in free agency once roster cutdowns occur. Licht is famous for saying that he’s always looking for players, and that roster construction isn’t complete heading into training camp.

Running back Leonard Fournette was signed in early September prior to the start of the 2020 season. Edge rusher Carl Nassib was a waiver wire pickup in August of 2018 and wound up starting that year and the next season. So I would look for the Bucs to make a move in camp or after the preseason to add another experienced defensive back or two to the roster.