By What the Buccaneers’ 53-Man Roster Tells Us About Todd Bowles’ 2026 Team
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
TAMPA — You can learn a lot about a football team by looking at the players it cuts.
You can learn even more by looking at the players it refuses to cut.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finalized their initial 53-man roster Sunday.
While there will certainly be changes between now and the end of the season, Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht gave us our first real look at what they believe this football team needs to be in 2026.
The Buccaneers want to be bigger and more physical up front.
They want a deeper pass rush. They aren’t afraid to trust young players. And they seem willing to reward performance rather than stick with the safest or most experienced option.
Jalon Daniels Proved the Best Players Will Play.
Nothing demonstrates that philosophy better than the backup quarterback decision.
When training camp began, Jake Browning appeared to have every advantage in the competition to back up Baker Mayfield.
Browning had NFL starting experience. Jalon Daniels was an undrafted rookie trying to make an NFL roster.
Six weeks later, Browning is gone, and Daniels is QB2.
That wasn’t the expected outcome when camp opened. But it was the right one.
Daniels provided a spark during the first two preseason games, leading five scoring drives and two late rallies.
His final preseason appearance in Jacksonville wasn’t nearly as impressive, but apparently he had already shown Bowles and the coaching staff enough.
Before the roster was finalized, Bowles acknowledged just how difficult the numbers game was at quarterback.
“It’s difficult because you probably need the spot for somewhere else, as far as [special] teams or an extra rusher or an extra back or an extra offensive lineman.”
Bowles also said carrying another quarterback was something the organization had to “weigh the pros and cons of.”
Bowles isn’t interested in keeping a veteran simply because he’s a veteran. Daniels earned the job.
The Buccaneers Want to Win in the Trenches
If there is one part of this roster that screams Todd Bowles football, it’s the defensive front.
Tampa Bay kept seven interior defensive linemen and five edge rushers.
That’s 12 defensive front players.
The Buccaneers also kept 10 offensive linemen.
That’s not an accident.
This roster was constructed from the inside out.
On defense, Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey are joined by A’Shawn Robinson, Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, Elijah Roberts, DeMonte Capehart, and Elijah Simmons.
Then look at the edge. Yaya Diaby, Rueben Bain Jr, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Anthony Nelson and David Walker.
That is one of the deepest collections of pass rushers Bowles has had in Tampa in several years.
Now they have to produce.
We’ve talked about this throughout the preseason: pressures are important, but eventually somebody has to finish the play and get the quarterback on the ground.
The Buccaneers believe they have enough players to attack offenses in waves.
Muhammad is coming off an 11-sack season with Detroit. Diaby led Tampa Bay with seven sacks last season. Bain arrives as the 15th overall pick with the potential to become one of the defense’s difference-makers immediately.
If Bowles’ defense is going to return to being one of the more difficult units in the NFC to play against, this is where it starts.
Bowles Wants a Faster, Younger Defense
There has also been a noticeable change of the guard on defense.
Lavonte David is gone.
The Buccaneers responded by bringing in veteran Alex Anzalone, but they also drafted Josiah Trotter and kept undrafted rookie Caden Fordham.
Trotter has an opportunity to play immediately.
Fordham played his way onto the roster.
The Buccaneers didn’t simply hand the final roster spots to familiar names. They allowed training camp to matter.
Fordham was one of the players who took advantage. So did cornerback Ayden Garnes.
Ayden Garnes Is Another Example of the Buccaneers Trusting What They Saw
Garnes might be one of my favorite stories from this training camp. He arrived as an undrafted free agent from Arizona without much fanfare.
Then he started making plays. And he kept making them.
Garnes showed up during practices, joint sessions, and preseason games. His interception return for a touchdown against the Jets was probably the play most fans remember, but his roster spot wasn’t earned on one play. It was the body of work.
Bowles saw it early.
“Very good cover skills,” Bowles said during training camp. “Very good cover guy. For a corner that small, he’s got great feet; he’s got very good instincts.”
Now Garnes is one of only five cornerbacks on the initial roster.
The Secondary Is Where Tampa Bay Is Taking Its Biggest Gamble.
One position group on this roster makes me nervous—the secondary.
The Buccaneers kept only eight defensive backs — five cornerbacks and three safeties — on the initial 53.
That’s really thin considering Benjamin Morrison’s injury history.
Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks are Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish, Morrison, Keionte Scott and Garnes.
At safety, it’s Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith and Miles Killebrew.
Scott’s ability to play multiple positions gives Bowles some flexibility, but versatility doesn’t completely replace depth.
The Buccaneers own analysis of the roster acknowledged that eight defensive backs is lighter than the team normally carries.
If everyone stays healthy, Bowles has plenty to work with.
But how often does that happen in the NFL?
We’ve watched the Buccaneers secondary get ravaged by injuries before.
This is one position where I wouldn’t be surprised to see Licht continue looking for help.
Special Teams Clearly Mattered
Another message from this roster is that being a backup isn’t enough.
You better contribute somewhere else.
Sean Tucker made the roster as the third running back behind Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell.
Kameron Johnson made it at receiver.
Caden Fordham made it at linebacker.
Miles Killebrew isn’t being kept to provide safety depth. He has been one of the NFL’s better special-teams players.
Bowles made it clear before the cuts that special teams would factor into these decisions.
When discussing the running backs, he pointed out that the candidates weren’t simply being judged on running the football.
“Both of them can run the ball, both of them return kicks obviously, both of them try to tackle on kickoff and punt team,” Bowles said.
That’s Bowles telling you exactly how the bottom of his roster was going to be constructed.
If you’re the 45th through 53rd player on this team, you need to do more than one thing.
There Is Still Plenty of Youth — But This Isn’t a Rebuilding Team
The Buccaneers have 10 rookies on the initial roster, and all seven members of their 2026 draft class made the team.
They also have 28 players age 26 or younger.
But don’t mistake youth for rebuilding. This team is trying to win now.
Baker Mayfield is the quarterback.
Mike Evans may no longer be part of the receiving corps, but Chris Godwin remains alongside Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson, Tedd Hurst, and Kameron Johnson.
Bucky Irving is established as the lead running back.
The offensive line gets Tristan Wirfs back and has the depth to hopefully survive the type of injuries that devastated the unit last season.
Defensively, Vea, Kancey, Winfield, and Diaby remain major pieces, while players such as Bain and Trotter are being asked to make an immediate impact.
This isn’t a team being constructed for 2028. It’s a team Bowles expects to win with in 2026.
This Looks Like a Todd Bowles Football Team
More than anything, what stands out about this roster is that it looks like a Todd Bowles team.
Big defensive linemen. Multiple pass rushers.
Linebackers who can run. Defensive backs with versatility—special-teams players throughout the bottom of the roster.
And enough offensive-line depth to protect the quarterback and run the football.
There are risks.
Daniels has tremendous potential, but Tampa Bay is putting a lot of faith in an undrafted rookie if something happens to Mayfield.
The Buccaneers have since added veteran quarterback Easton Stick to the practice squad, giving them another experienced option in the building.
But I like what the Buccaneers did overall.
They didn’t build this roster strictly based on draft position, contracts, or NFL experience. That’s what training camp is supposed to be.
Now comes the important part.
The 53-man roster tells us what Bowles and Licht believe this Buccaneers team can be.
Beginning with the season opener in Cincinnati, we find out if they’re right.
