A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. This week’s prompt: What is the Bucs’ biggest roster need going forward as the 2025 season winds down?

Scott Reynolds: Don’t Look Now, But The Bucs Need To Address DT – Again

Listen, the obvious answers here in terms of roster upgrades from a priority standpoint are inside linebacker and outside linebacker. But I’m giving to allow my other colleagues at Pewter Report the benefit of making those lay-ups. I’m going to address another big, sneaky need that will be prioritized somehow in 2026 – defensive tackle. I know the Bucs have Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey up front when Kancey is healthy, but who knows how long he’ll last in any given season.

By the end of the regular season, Kancey, who has been on injured reserve since tearing his pectoral muscle in Week 2, will have played in 28 games and missed 23. The Bucs simply can’t count on him playing an entire season in 2026 because he has yet to show he can do it in any of his first three years in Tampa Bay.

Bucs DTs Logan Hall and Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Vea will turn 31 in 2026, which will be a contract year for the second-best defensive tackle in Tampa Bay history behind Warren Sapp. I love Vea, but he’s not been as impactful this year as he has been in the two previous seasons. Obviously not playing next to Kancey has impacted his game, too. Logan Hall has been a second-round bust and he will be allowed to leave in free agency. Elijah Roberts, this year’s fifth-round pick, is already just as good as Hall and has a better upside.

Elijah Simmons was acquired this year and he’ll likely replace backup nose tackle Greg Gaines, who will turn 32 next year. So with Gaines and Hall departing, Vea entering a contract year, and question marks around Kancey’s health moving forward, the Bucs desperately need another impactful defensive tackle with the capability and athleticism to be an impact starter. Because it takes defensive tackles a year or two to blossom, spending a premium pick on an eventual replacement for Kancey or Vea seems wise in 2026.

Matt Matera: It’s Crazy To Say, But The Bucs Really Need Another Top WR

Wow, the Bucs really do miss having Mike Evans on the field. How this team has looked offensively with their number one receiver and without the future Hall of Famer has been pretty impactful since he broke his collarbone in Week 7. The Bucs have gotten great contributions from rookies Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson, but seeing the offense’s struggles over the last month, it’s evident they need one more starting-caliber receiver in 2026.

Bucs WRs Emeka Egbuka and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Some of the issue is that the Bucs have also been without Chris Godwin Jr. for most of the season and Jalen McMillan, last year’s third-round pick, for all of it. Remember when Egbuka had his hot start? That was with Evans in the lineup, followed by defenses focusing on Godwin before realizing he might not be the same player anymore. In the first five games with at least Evans (three) or Godwin (two),  Egbuka had 445 yards and five touchdowns. Since then he’s had just 304 yards and one touchdown in six games, severely slowing down his production with less help.

Johnson has been great scoring touchdowns with five on the year, but he hasn’t been a consistent threat with a season high of 59 yards in a game. Sterling Shepard isn’t a long term-answer either at age 32. With Evans, who turns 33 next August, close to retirement and in a contract year, Godwin not his prime self anymore due to injury, and McMillan coming off of a serious injury, Tampa Bay needs to find a true No. 1 receiver next year. And that’s even if Evans returns for one more season. Adding one more big weapon could open up much more for the Bucs’ passing game.

Bailey Adams: The Bucs Finally Need To Revamp The ILB Position

It brings me no pleasure to go this route with my answer because of what he means to this franchise, but it’s unfortunately time to start thinking about a future without Lavonte David in Tampa Bay. I’m not even saying that in a sense that I’m wanting to push him out the door. If he wants to sign another one-year deal in 2026, so be it.

But if that’s the case, the Bucs will have to scale back his snaps and pick and choose when to use him best. He’s unfortunately not the same guy anymore at age 35, and I still think the likeliest outcome is David opting to retire after a stellar, Hall of Fame-worthy 14-year career.

Bucs ILBs Lavonte David and SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs decision-makers have been in a spot as of late where they’ve been able to kick the can down the road as far as reloading the inside linebacker position because, hey, at least they knew they’d have Lavonte David at one of the spots. That’s unlikely to be the case beyond 2025, and even SirVocea Dennis at the other inside ‘backer position is on shaky footing. He hasn’t shown enough to be guaranteed a starting spot in a 2026 contract year, and while he will be on the roster, I think he’s more solid depth than a potential top linebacker.

So, with David presumably ready to retire at 36 years old, Dennis being less than stellar in his first full season as a starter and no real long-term options behind them on the depth chart, general manager Jason Licht has some work to do at this position. He may need to double dip in the draft or potentially swing big for a free agent and then spend a premium pick on a linebacker in April. As much talk as there is about the need to rebuild the pass rush up front, I feel like the needs at inside linebacker are right up there among the highest priorities, too.

Adam Slivon: The Cornerback Room Cannot Be Ignored In 2026

The Bucs came into this season with grand, albeit simple, plans for the cornerback room after drafting Benjamin Morrison in the second round to learn behind Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollum. Going into 2026, Morrison would then take over as the long-term starter with Dean leaving in free agency. Well, not so fast. Tampa Bay now finds itself in a dilemma in more ways than one at the position.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

For starters, Morrison has battled injuries and gone through rookie struggles in 2025. In no way should a starting job just be handed to him next season as he hasn’t truly earned with his play on the field, especially if Dean doesn’t return. While injuries have not eluded the veteran, he has had a career year with three interceptions, two forced fumbles and sack and blossoming into a shutdown cornerback at age 29. While Dean is trending upward, McCollum is in a downward spiral. He has failed to live up to his three-year, $48 million deal and was a turnstile against the Rams. While still thought of (and paid) highly, he isn’t going anywhere in 2026.

What all of this does mean is that regardless of how things go, cornerback is still a position that needs more help – even despite drafting cornerback Jacob Parrish in the third round because he has claimed in the nickelback role in the slot. A team can never have enough good players at the outside cornerback position, and right now, the room is murky peaking into 2026. If Dean does head out of town in free agency, as expected,  it’s hard to say Tampa Bay has a No. 1-caliber player unless McCollum reverses course. In a pass-heavy league, this remains a key area of focus.

Josh Queipo: OLB Continues To Disrupt The Rest Of The Defense

Todd Bowles said over the offseason he needed his defense to affect the passer with a four man rush more. The team tried to invest assets into that position. Signing Haason Reddick was a low-risk, high-reward attempt to give Bowles the juice off the edge the team lacked with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka last year. Drafting David Walker in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft was a similar move.

But those efforts have been derailed by injuries. Walker was lost for the season before he ever played a snap, and Reddick has been out since Week 8. Behind Reddick and Yaya Diaby, the Bucs have tried to find outside linebackers with complete skillsets. Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson can defend the run, but neither is a consistent factor as a pass rusher. Because of that, as soon as Reddick went down, so did the Bucs’ four man pass rush. As a result, Bowles has had to revert back to old ways of getting pressure with heavy blitzes. And good offenses are finding ways to beat him over the head for it.

Reddick was helpful. Tampa Bay’s pressure rate has when rushing four has dropped from 34.4% when Reddick played to 26.9% over the past four games without him. Their sack rate in those situations has similarly declined from 7.6% to 5.8%. It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that three of their five highest points allowed games have come in his absence. Yet the Bucs have also played better teams during that stretch too – each with MVP-caliber quarterbacks in Drake Maye, Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford.

Bucs OLB Haason Reddick – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

And those four man rushes include more sim drops where the team is still rushing four but dropping outside linebackers in favor of linebackers or defensive backs, who are coming for the quarterback. Those plays need to be in a modern NFL playbook, but Bowles is having to rely on them because the team can’t compliment Diaby well enough with traditional pass rush.

The team should get Reddick back at some point. That should lift the defense. But Jason Licht has to continue to look for avenues to upgrade the top-end of the pass rush as Reddick is only getting older and not at the peak of his powers anymore. Licht also has to look for a designated pass rusher to occupy a spot on the 53-man roster – a Josh Uche type. That way if injuries hit the starting outside linebackers – and injuries, like Thanos, are inevitable – the team can still win on third down without having to blitz second-level defenders.