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

70 days away from Bucs regular season kickoff
40 days away from Bucs preseason kickoff
24 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 center Graham Barton.

26 For ‘26: Graham Barton Bucs Storylines In 2026

Can Graham Barton Take The Next Step In Year 3?

The Bucs spent a premium pick on Barton back in the 2024 Draft for a reason. The No. 26 overall pick, he quickly assumed Tampa Bay’s starting center role and showed early on why the team believed he could be a key building block on its offensive line after kicking inside to center from the left tackle spot he played at Duke.

But as Barton enters Year 3, it seems fair to expect him to hit that next level — and soon. Because while Barton hasn’t been bad by any means, there’s plenty of room for growth within the 24-year-old. And it’s worth mentioning that he just now turned 24 back at the beginning of June, so this is still a young player we’re talking about for him being a third-year pro.

Bucs C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

As a rookie, Barton played to a 56.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which included a 64.0 pass blocking grade and a 54.6 run blocking mark. He allowed 24 total pressures — with just one sack — over 639 pass blocking opportunities. All in all, that was a good start.

Things were admittedly disrupted a bit for him in 2025, as he began the year kicking back out to left tackle to cover for the injured Tristan Wirfs before returning to center once Wirfs was back. But upon returning to center, the guard positions were a mess for Tampa Bay due to a rash of injuries. That predictably played a role as Barton allowed 36 pressures and five sacks over 647 pass blocking opportunities.

Controlling for just his snaps at center in 2025, Barton’s PFF pass blocking grade dropped from 64.0 to 59.1. Yet his run blocking grade improved from 54.6 to 65.8. Overall, he graded out with a 63.9 grade — better than the 56.3 from his rookie year.

But across the board things looked like they were on an upward trajectory when you consider it took him about three weeks after transitioning back to center to get re-acclimated. From Week 7 on, he graded out with a 65.6 pass block grade, 65.0 run block grade and a 65.2 overall grade. Those placed him 17th out of 29 centers in the NFL with at least 481 snaps over that time period.

But in 2026, it’s time for Barton to put it all together. He’s the anchor for a strong Buccaneer offensive line, and Tampa Bay needs him to take that next step.

Can Graham Barton Count On Stability Along The Bucs Offensive Line’s Interior?

It was alluded to above, but it’s worth expanding on. It’s hard to put ALL of the blame on Barton for the struggles he had at times throughout the 2025 season, as there was a whole lot of instability on the interior of the offensive line in the 14 games he did play at center. And there were also the three games he played at left tackle.

If anything, Barton being able to kick back out to his college position of left tackle for the first three games of the 2025 season was an impressive feat after he spent a year adjusting to life as an NFL center. He had a rough go of it in Week 2 against the Texans, but he did an admirable job at tackle — and the Bucs went 3-0 in those three games.

Upon his return to center in Week 4, things were already off considering right guard Cody Mauch had suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2. So instead of Mauch, it was Luke Haggard at right guard. Just as Barton might’ve been adjusting to the new guard combination of Ben Bredeson and Haggard, Haggard went down.

Bucs C Graham Barton, LG Mike Jordan and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Elijah Klein came in to finish up the Bucs’ Week 6 win over the 49ers, then Tampa Bay started Mike Jordan in Week 7 and Dan Feeney in Week 8. When the team returned from its bye in Week 10, it was Feeney at one guard spot and Jordan at the other due to a Bredeson injury. Soon enough, Bredeson would be out for the rest of the year, missing the last four games.

So, while Barton needs to make some strides in his own right in 2026, the hope is that he’ll also benefit from Mauch’s return on the right side a steady season for Bredeson on the left. Offensive line play is so much about chemistry, and it was hard to keep that consistent in 2025 — along the whole offensive line but especially on the interior. The Bucs will hope they don’t have to deal with those issues again in 2026, and Barton would benefit from it if they don’t.

The Bucs’ Have A Looming Decision With Graham Barton’s Rookie Contract

It’s hard to believe this is already Year 3 for Barton, the Bucs’ 2024 first-round pick. Perhaps even harder to believe is that not too long from now, the topic of the fifth-year option on Barton’s rookie contract will take center stage. By next May, Tampa Bay will have to decide whether to exercise that option and lock its starting center in for the 2028 season.

Right now, it’s hard to see a path to the Bucs picking up his option. There’s not really any reason to believe anything will happen in 2026 that will change the team’s mind. The young center has shown promise in his first two seasons and is poised to take the next step forward this season. And while it’s become increasingly rare for Tampa Bay to decline those fifth-year options on the contracts of their first-round draft picks, especially under general manager Jason Licht, there is precedent.

Bucs C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Licht and the Bucs exercised the fifth-year options on the rookie contracts of Mike Evans (2014 first-round pick), Jameis Winston (2015), Vernon Hargreaves III (2016), O.J. Howard (2017), Vita Vea (2018), Devin White (2019), Tristan Wirfs (2020) and, most recently, Calijah Kancey (2023). The only first-round pick who didn’t have their option exercised was 2021 first-rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. And in the cases of Evans, Vea and Wirfs, the team eventually agreed to long-term contract extensions with each.

With Tryon-Shoyinka, the team moved on because his production was lacking and his play was regressing. For Barton, the calculus will be very different. The team might be very excited about his play, but the antiquated models the NFL uses to calculate fifth-year options will most likely be the barrier to entry. This year the base-level option price for all offensive linemen was $18 million. Next year that number will only increase. Exactly two centers make $18 million or more at the moment — Tyler Linderbaum and Creed Humphrey. For the Bucs to feel like the option is a worthwhile play Barton would have to ascend to “best center in the league” conversations.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of season Barton has in 2026. Because if he maintains the status quo or takes a decently sized step forward, the best path forward for all parties is an early extension at a solid price. But what if Barton takes a massive step forward in his third NFL season? Might Tampa Bay pick up that option in May, especially if Barton balks on long-term negotiations to force the team’s hand at locking in a higher price? And all of this will play out against a backdrop of looming extensions for Baker Mayfield and Yaya Diaby, not to mention possible deals for Cody Mauch, Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey. That’s what makes this such a pivotal year for Barton.

It helps that Barton is still so young. He’ll be 24 for his third NFL season, which means he’ll only be 26 heading into a potential fifth year in Tampa Bay in 2028. That has to be appealing for a Bucs team that already has its two tackles locked in for the long term.

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