The countdown to the Bucs’ 2026 season is on. Right now, we’re:

68 days away from Bucs regular season kickoff
38 days away from Bucs preseason kickoff
22 days away from Bucs training camp

In the lead-up to training camp, Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams will be diving into storylines for 26 key figures who will be crucial to the Bucs’ success in 2026.

Today, the series continues with right guard Cody Mauch.

26 For ‘26: Cody Mauch Bucs Storylines In 2026

How Will Cody Mauch Fare In His Return From Knee Surgery?

When Mauch returns to game action in the preseason, it will have been 11 months since the last time he took the field in a competitive setting. Of course, when the Bucs open up the real season in Cincinnati on Sept. 13, it will have been nearly a full year since the Bucs’ right guard has played in a regular season game. His last one came on Sept. 15, 2025.

So naturally, the conversations surrounding Mauch in 2026 center on how well he’ll bounce back from the season-ending meniscus tear he suffered in Week 2 of the 2025 season. He played every snap that night, gutting it out as the Bucs came back to win late. But that was the final game he would play in his third NFL season.

Mauch missed the final 15 games of a disappointing season for Tampa Bay, and more injuries at guard led to quite the revolving door for the position throughout the campaign. But fast forward to now and the 6-foot-6, 320-pound mauler is healthy and ready to go for Year 4.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In fact, Mauch was already a full participant in practice by the start of OTAs in late May. Mauch told the media upon his return to practice that the injury was tough on him considering he hadn’t missed a snap due to injury in high school, college or the NFL. So, being sidelined was new. And it couldn’t have been easy for him to watch what unfolded for the Buccaneer offensive line and the team as a whole. The good news for him and the Bucs is that he’s now back.

But what will his return look like? Will there be a reacclimation period for Mauch? Will he be able to clear those early hurdles and shake off that rust in training camp, joint practices and the preseason? Or will there be some bumps along the way early in the regular season? The slate to start the year is unforgiving, with a pretty formidable trio of Dexter Lawrence II, Mason Graham and Javon Hargrave on the schedule within the first four weeks. The hope is that he hits the ground running right away, but time will tell for the 27-year-old.

Can Cody Mauch Stay On The Trajectory He Was On Pre-Injury?

Before the injury, Mauch was on quite the trajectory. The 2023 second-round pick took his lumps as a rookie, but that was to be expected considering he was moving from tackle to guard, the left side to the right side and North Dakota State to the NFL. There’s a learning curve and an adjustment period with all three of those transitions, and he was dealing with all three at once. He was also doing so while playing next to right tackle Luke Goedeke, who was readjusting in his own right after spending his 2022 rookie season at guard before returning to his natural college position of tackle.

In 2023, Mauch played all 1,103 of the Bucs’ offensive snaps and posted a 43.9 overall PFF grade with a 37.6 run blocking grade and a 52.1 pass blocking mark. He allowed eight sacks and 57 total pressures while being penalized five times. So, yes, there were some tough moments.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But in 2024, Mauch took a huge step up. He played 1,133 snaps for the Bucs, which came out to 99% of the offense’s total. And his grades massively improved across the board. He earned a 74.6 overall grade with a 68.4 run blocking mark and a 77.2 pass blocking grade. Mauch also allowed two sacks and 19 total pressures, which meant a quarter of the sacks he allowed in 2023 and around one-third of the pressures. He also went from five penalties in 2023 to just two in 2024. Overall, it was quite the jump from rookie season to Year 2 for Tampa Bay’s right guard.

After an injury-shortened 2025 season, Mauch and the Bucs will hope to see that rise continue in 2026. Getting through the early hurdles of his return from that meniscus tear and the ensuing surgery will be key, both mentally and physically. The physical aspect of it includes the fact that he’s carrying more weight heading into the new season, and he’s carrying that weight on a surgically repaired knee. Mauch is looking to be bigger and better in his fourth season as a pro, as he told Pewter Report.

In an April appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast, Mauch told Scott Reynolds and Matt Matera that he was weighing in the range of 320-325 pounds and was going to see how 325 pounds felt for him during OTAs. That’s about 10 more pounds than he was weighing heading into 2025, and it’s nearly 25 more than he weighed when he was drafted. It’ll be interesting to see how he manages that weight and if/how it affects his play style.

Mauch said as a guard, he thinks the bigger, the better. However he gets there, hitting an even higher level than the one he played at in 2024 would be huge for him, the offensive line and the Buccaneer offense as a whole.

In A Contract Year, Cody Mauch Will Be Shaping His Future With The Bucs – Or Elsewhere?

How Mauch’s return from injury goes and whether he continues the trajectory he was on prior to his injury will directly impact the big man’s future. Whether that future is with the Bucs or elsewhere remains to be seen, and that’s a different part of the conversation that we’ll get to shortly. Before that, let’s focus on the fact that 2026 is a contract year for Mauch, making it a massively important season for him.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The timing of Mauch’s meniscus injury creates a unique situation for him in 2026. Because as much as this season will be about finishing up his recovery, readjusting to the grind of the NFL season, returning to form and even taking the next step after a hugely successful 2024 season, it’s also about him establishing his value as he’s set to hit free agency.

As of May, Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo projected Mauch to make between $14 million-$17 million per year on a new contract. This season will help determine whether the average annual value (AAV) on his new contract will be on the lower end of that range, the higher end or even beyond that $17 million. This season could also play a role in deciding whether Mauch’s future is with the Bucs or one of the 31 other teams in the league. And that’s an interesting layer of this conversation.

Right now, it would feel like a big surprise – and potentially a big misstep – for Tampa Bay to pass on re-signing Mauch. He’s just now hitting his prime heading into his age-27 season, and he was on the right path prior to the injury that ended his 2025. Assuming he returns to the field fully healthy and has another very good season for the Bucs, Mauch very well could and should be a priority next offseason.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But there’s a lot that the Bucs have to juggle next offseason. Baker Mayfield, Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea and Chase McLaughlin are all pending free agents. And there’s only so much cash to go around, right? Well, as Queipo suggested back in that May article, there’s a chance a decision has to be made between re-signing Mauch and retaining Ben Bredeson for the third and final year of his three-year contract. In that situation, you’re choosing Bredeson to be a cap casualty and Mauch to be a long-term building block for the offensive line 100/100 times.

In any case, Mauch is set to play out his contract year unless Tampa Bay inks him to an early extension in the coming weeks. There hasn’t been any smoke on that, though, so this may be a topic that’s tabled until next February or March. But it’s a topic that will linger as a critical thread throughout the upcoming season.

Catch Up On Previous Installments Of Bailey Adams’ 26 For ’26 Series

Baker Mayfield
Bucky Irving
Kenny Gainwell
Chris Godwin Jr.
Emeka Egbuka
Jalen McMillan
Cade Otton
Tristan Wirfs
Ben Bredeson
Graham Barton