Welcome to the fifteenth part of a thirty-two-part series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. Fantasy football tasseography is deeply rooted in predicting future fantasy fortunes. Some of the team tea cups we'll be looking into may be larger than others. The smallest of cups may have the most alluring blends of offensive weaponry, or be set to bloom after a long steep. This series will aid in your approach to Redraft and Dynasty leagues by bringing you up to date on:

• Free Agency
  • Re-signings, additions, who signed elsewhere, and what it means for fantasy.
• NFL Draft
  • What can we decipher about the direction a team is headed in based on their draft selections?
• Coaching Changes
  • Who's in, who's out, and how do the coaching philosophies translate to fantasy production?
• Fantasy Fortunes
  • What does this all mean for your fantasy football drafts?

Like tasseography, the arrangement of these four sections will vary as we digest each team's offseasons and see how the offensive pieces settle. Each article will interpret what this NFL team has told us about their future plans based on what they've done since their 2025 season ended.

Reading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2026 Offseason

Free Agency Additions & Subtractions

The biggest offseason news for the Buccaneers was Mike Evans leaving Tampa Bay to join the 49ers. RB Rachaad White signed with the Washington Commanders this offseason and was replaced by former Pittsburgh Steeler RB Kenneth Gainwell, who's coming off a career year. The Bucs spent average starting TE money to re-sign Cade Otton on a three-year deal. RB Sean Tucker was re-signed to a one-year $3.5M contract.

Tampa Bay RB Room Shuffle

The RB room has been a talking point in the fantasy community with the reports coming out in June about Bucky Irving still recovering from his offseason shoulder surgery. Rachaad White signed a one-year prove-it deal worth $2M, while the Bucs spent $3.5M on Sean Tucker for this season, and signed Kenneth Gainwell to a two-year $14M deal.

What this tells me is that Tucker isn't ready to handle a heavier workload, and there's reason to be concerned about Bucky Irving's health heading into the season. It sounds like White wanted the opportunity to compete for a lead role and was willing to take less money this season to get more than the $14M deal Gainwell signed. 

Draft Day Additions

In the draft, Tampa selected the small school, athletic freak WR Ted Hurst out of Georgia State in the third round. Hurst attended the Senior Bowl and made quite a few highlight catches in one-on-ones but was consistently bothered by physical coverage. Hurst will face an uphill battle for playing time behind the likes of Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan. If he is thrust into a role as an X, expect him to struggle in his rookie year.

Coaching Changes

There's a new Offensive Coordinator (OC) for the Bucs. Zac Robinson replaces Josh Grizzard after a disappointing stint as OC. Robinson most recently served as the Atlanta Falcons OC after orchestrating two years of Falcons offenses that finished in the top half of the league in passing and rushing yards. Prior to the Falcons, Robinson was with the Rams as their Passing Game Coordinator. Robinson should have no problem fueling the Buccaneers' skill players to fantasy points in 2026.

Fantasy Fortunes

The hole left by veteran WR Evans needs to be filled, but we can expect the offense to look much different from what we saw in 2025 with the addition of OC Robinson. Robinson's offense should fuel a QB1, two RB2s, potentially a WR1, certainly two WR2-3s, potentially a WR3-4, and a TE2.

Veteran QB Mayfield is set up to score his fourth consecutive QB1 finish. Bucky Irving underwent an offseason shoulder surgery, but when healthy looks to be capable of handling lead RB duties. Gainwell will likely see enough snaps to remain fantasy relevant and in the RB3 conversation. Sean Tucker is a priority add if either Irving or Gainwell go down with an injury.

Look for Egbuka and Godwin to have dominant fantasy seasons in 2026, with McMillan having his fair share of flex-worthy weeks. Otton will be, at best, a spot-start option during bye weeks next season and into future seasons given the Bucs WR depth. This offense should be a strong one to target for fantasy football again.

Cam White is a Senior Analyst & Host at Optimus Fantasy. You can find more of his work on our YouTube channel, and make sure to follow him on Bluesky.