Due to the expected landfall of Hurricane Milton, the Bucs are relocating their operations to the New Orleans area this week, the team announced on Monday morning. The plan is for the group to leave on Tuesday and practice the rest of the week in the area ahead of their road game against the Saints on Sunday.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

All media will be done via Zoom as well. This includes the weekly press conferences with head coach Todd Bowles, quarterback Baker Mayfield, offensive coordinator Liam Coen and co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers.

The Bucs have had extra time off this week having played on Thursday, but they will quickly have to refocus and readjust due to the impact that the weather is having, forcing them to prepare on the fly and in a new location.

A tropical surge already came for the Tampa Bay area two weeks ago ahead of their home matchup against the Eagles. This forced several players, including Mayfield, to evacuate their homes during the week. Hurricane Milton has already been labeled as a category four hurricane and is looking like it’ll make its way to Tampa and the surrounding area on Wednesday and Thursday.

Bucs Have Had To Relocate Before

This isn’t the first time that the Bucs have had to shift locations.

Back in 2022, Tampa Bay moved their practices to Miami ahead of a Sunday night football home game against the Chiefs in Week 4. Miami had a Thursday night game that week so Tampa Bay was able to use their facilities. They ended up losing that game to the Chiefs 41-31 after Kansas City got out to an early lead.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

While at the time the Bucs were able to use an NFL facility, that won’t be the case in 2024. The Bucs are practicing in the same area as their opponents, the Saints, so they’ll likely have to find a location that doesn’t have the same kind of amenities that a professional football team has. But that’s not stay they won’t have good options.

We’ve seen teams practice in different locations before during the season. Typically it’s for a west coast team traveling to the east coast or vice versa to get the team more acclimated to the time difference. The Denver Broncos, who played against Tampa Bay in Week 3 implored this just two weeks ago when they practiced all week in Virginia before taking on the New York Jets on the road. It paid off as the Broncos won 10-9 in a rainy game.

Every team goes through their own challenges and obstacles throughout the season. This is the obstacle in front of the Bucs at the moment. Tampa Bay, who just came off a tough overtime loss to the Falcons, have another big divisional game against the Saints as each team tries to stay in the race for the NFC South division. Tampa Bay has a gauntlet of a schedule coming up even after the Saints, so each game over the next month is of high significance.