EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsINDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly two whole months after the 2025 NFL season failed to deliver a postseason berth for the first time since 2020 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team's brass -- including coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht -- spoke at the 2026 NFL combine.It was the first time either had spoken since the decision was made to retain Bowles following an 8-9 season, since a mass overhaul of the coaching staff and since Mike Evans' agents Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones said the wide receiver would test the waters of free agency.Here's what we learned at the combine:Licht calls missing playoffs 'painful experience'Licht didn't mince words when asked about the team failing to reach the playoffs after a promising 6-2 start and them pegged as a Super Bowl favorite during the first half of the year, with many touting quarterback Baker Mayfield as an MVP candidate."It was tough for all of us. It was tough for any of us to look at any of the players and not feel the way we felt," Licht said. "I mean coaches as well, the entire organization. It was a painful experience to have our season slip away like that. But trust me, we all own it, and we're doing everything we can with our plans here moving forward to try to get back on track and I'm confident that we will."When asked about the organization's decision to retain Bowles, he pointed to his track record in his eight seasons with the team, first as defensive coordinator and then taking over as head coach in 2022, and three consecutive playoff appearances from 2022 to 2024, including the two with Mayfield."I'd say there's a lot of people that are frustrated with the way that the season went, and Todd's probably No. 1 and it means a lot to him," said Licht, who was part of the transition from Bruce Arians turning the reigns over to Bowles in 2022 upon Arians' retirement."The playoffs obviously -- those [last] two years felt like we were ascending and if I would've told the fans when we hired Todd that we'd be getting a coach that'll make the playoffs 75% of the seasons and win the division 75% of the time, I think everybody would sign off. I haven't lost any faith in Todd and nobody has either. I love working with Todd, and I think he's the perfect guy for this situation."Bucs' thoughts on Mayfield haven't changedDespite a statistical down season in 2025 for Mayfield, in which he went from throwing a career-high 41 touchdowns in 2024 to 26, the team's thoughts on him have not changed. The feeling is that, in addition to Mayfield not being 100% throughout much of the season, he was hampered by an ailing offensive line.Licht said the team "doesn't want to hide behind injuries," but "that's I think the strongest position group on our team."This was specially noticeable with the loss of both starting interior guards who are responsible for protecting his sight line in Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch, and it affected the play of center Graham Barton. It also affected their interior running, going from averaging 5.1 yards per carry along the interior in 2024 to 4.2 in 2025.Mayfield was also without three of his top four wide receivers in Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan and Chris Godwin Jr., who missed a combined 30 games, plus the loss of starting running back Bucky Irving for seven games."Our thoughts on Baker haven't changed," said Licht, adding that, at some point this year, they'll look to work on a contract extension. "He's been with us three years. We see the competitor he is, he's obviously got some arm, he's got a lot of arm talent but he's a leader. All these things. Our plans with Baker haven't changed. At some point -- I don't have a timetable -- I'm sure we'll be having those discussions.Mayfield is entering the final year of a three-year contract with a $39,375,000 salary cap charge -- the highest of the individual years on his current deal -- but he was still ranked 20th in the league in 2025 in terms of average salary per year among quarterbacks. That will come up based on market value alone and will need to be accounted for when attempting to re-sign players like Evans and potentially find an edge rusher in free agency.Bowles: Experience at offensive playcaller will help his defenseWith new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson having experience as an offensive playcaller, the feeling is Bowles will be able to focus more on the defense and being a head coach.Josh Grizzard, Liam Coen and Dave Canales were technically all first-time NFL playcallers (Coen did call plays at Kentucky and did get some opportunities with the Los Angeles Rams). That meant Bowles had to devote a certain amount of time getting them ready."He was a good fit for everything," Bowles said of Robinson. "I like his demeanor, his control and knowing the game a little better on offense. I thought that would help me out a lot more instead of doing so much over there [on offense]. I thought some of my responsibilities on defense probably lacked a little bit because of the offensive-type deal. So, he was a good hire for us."Bowles' defense struggled in 2025, tallying nine fewer sacks and going from surrendering a 54.4% red zone efficiency rating in 2024 to 69.8% in 2025.He has demonstrated a solid track record on offensive coordinator hires though -- with two out of the last three being named head coaches in Canales and Coen, with both leading their teams to the playoffs in 2025.Other nuggets-- A source told ESPN that Lavonte David, the team's longest-tenured player, still has not decided if he will return to play for a 15th season, but the Bucs made it clear to his representatives in Indianapolis that they want him back and the ball is said to be in his court.-- Bowles said of Tykee Smith's transition to safety: "We thought he was our best player probably up until he hurt his shoulder probably three quarters of the way through the season. He was our best tackler, he was our tone-setter and I thought he was on his way to the heck of the season."-- Bowles said they are examining the team's practice schedule to see if they can remedy the injury situation, although he has not made any decisions on those changes. That will include examining the number of walk-throughs conducted in lieu of actual practices, which some players felt hurt them late in the season. Bowles said that the team did not have enough healthy players to practice. The team did part was with Anthony Piroli, their head of strength and conditioning for the past seven seasons, with both Bowles and Licht praising Piroli's work but feeling the team needed to go in another direction.-- Licht believes Emeka Egbuka can make a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2 despite fading in the second half of the season: "Emeka was placed into a difficult position last year with injuries to Mike, Chris and [McMillan], where it wasn't exactly what ideally we would like him to settle in at one position. He had to play multiple positions. He had had to rely on him as a No. 1 and started strong, but, as a rookie, [he] came off a long season in college, short offseason and then placed into a position where he was being heavily relied on. I expect to see a big jump in the performance."
