We are now on the eve of the United States’ celebration of its 250th anniversary, and it’s time to finish off our annual Fourth of July week of Roundtable debates with a fireworks finale sort of bang. Like Paul Revere spreading the word, we’re going to go as bold as possible for our final discussion and give you a handful of over-the-top predictions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2026 season.
Hopefully, in honor of this momentous national occasion, we fare better with our predictions than we did last year. Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabriel Kahaian and I collectively whiffed with our predictions from this time in 2025, though Gabe at least gets half credit. His prediction was that Baker Mayfield would win the NFL’s MVP award, and to be fair, Mayfield was getting “MVP!” chants from the Raymond James Stadium crowd around midseason. Alas, the second half saw the Bucs spiral into a 2-7 finish and the award rightfully went to the Rams’ Matthew Stafford.
Bri’s prediction was that Chris Godwin would win the Comeback Player of the Year award after returning from a devastating ankle injury suffered in the middle of what had been shaping up as an incredible 2024 season for him. Unfortunately, Godwin missed another eight games in 2025 and did not receive a single vote for this award, which went to San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey. Honestly, he could be a stronger candidate for the same honor this year, given that he will be coming into the season fully healthy.
My prediction was probably the worst of the three. I suggested that Calijah Kancey would be the Bucs’ first interior defensive lineman to reach double digits in sacks since future Hall of Famer Warren Sapp and also Marcus Jones did so in 2000. I would have loved to see Kancey chase that mark, but unfortunately he suffered a pectoral injury in Week Two and only made it back for the season finale. Kancey did not have 10-plus sacks in 2025; he had zero. As with Godwin, I have high hopes for a similar pursuit in 2026.
But we won’t be running back those same predictions this year, even if Gabe remains fixated on Mayfield. It’s time for new set of bold predictions, and this time we’re going to get all three of them right!
Here is the full schedule for this week’s Point-Counterpoint series:
Monday, June 29: Which Buccaneer will make the biggest leap in 2026?
Tuesday, June 30: What player would you steal from another NFC South roster?
Wednesday, July 1: Which Buccaneer could win a major NFL award in 2026?
Thursday, July 2: What specific statistical goal would you like to see the Bucs achieve in 2025?
Friday, July 3: What is your prediction for a surprising statistical achievement for one or more Buccaneers?
Since we are not going to be duplicating answers in any of these debates, order of selection matters, and the order for our final Roundtable is Gabe going first, Bri second and me third. Let’sget bold, Gabe.
Gabriel Kahaian: Baker Mayfield Makes Buccaneers’ History and Then Some
Baker Mayfield has had some of the best seasons of his career while in Tampa Bay. In just three years, Mayfield has steadily climbed up the record books, placing himself in the top-10 rankings of the franchise all-time passing totals, and he even landed 38th in the Bucs’ Top 50 Players in History ranking that celebrated the team’s 50th season. When you actually take a look at those all-time passing records, you will begin to notice that Baker Mayfield is inching closer to the top spot in one of them and I think not only will he hit it, he will surely surpass it in the upcoming season. Curious? Let’s take a look at the chart below.
All-Time Franchise Passing Touchdowns, Buccaneers