Baker Mayfield Makes Bold Claim About Buccaneers' Offensive Line in 2026

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had some trouble on their offensive line last year, with most of its pieces unable to stay healthy across the entire season.

Center Graham Barton was the only lineman to stay healthy over 17 games last year. The other four starters — left tackle Tristan Wirfs, right tackle Luke Goedeke, left guard Ben Bredeson and right guard Cody Mauch — all missed time, with Mauch missing the entire season due to a knee injury.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield knows what it's like to play with all of those players healthy, though. He did it in 2024, and the Bucs went 10-7 that year while Mayfield had the best season of his entire career to date.

Because of that, Mayfield knows what they're capable of. And he believes that when healthy, this unit is one of the NFL's best.

Tampa Bay's Offensive Line is Ready to Shine in 2026

Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Graham Barton (62) prepares to snap to quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mayfield mostly spoke on his controversial contract negotiations during Thursday's media, of course, but he was asked about how his offensive line was set to fare in 2026.

Mayfield noted that the unit never played a single snap together due to injuries last season, but when it does, it's a top-three unit in the league.

"I mean, it's a top-three unit in the league. Unfortunately, last year they didn't play one snap together, which stinks for me," Mayfield said. "For us as a group and for our young guys, it gave them a lot of experience and depth. Like I said, they were thrown into the fire.

"But when all five of those guys are out there rolling, and with some of those guys that got experience last year, it's a very freeing feeling to have those guys out there. They're savages up front. They're really good. Their chemistry is unbelievable. They know what we're trying to get done. When they're on the same page, our offense is just clicking. So, it starts with those guys and goes from there."

That unit indeed did not play a snap together in 2025. Wirfs was out for the first three weeks of the season while recovering from knee surgery, and in that time, right guard Cody Mauch suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2. Goedeke and Bredeson were out for a few games as well, leaving the whole line to be patchwork for most of the season.

In 2024, though, that unit — when healthy — played very well, so Mayfield's claim isn't so far-fetched. And the line is ready to prove it in 2026.

Bredeson spoke on Thursday about how exciting the prospect of playing with each other on the field again is this upcoming season.

"Obviously, we love playing with each other. This is going on year three now of having that group. Unfortunately, last year, with some poorly timed injuries and injuries altogether, we weren’t able to get the unit out there," Bredeson said. "Being able to come out here and kind of see it all coming back together gets us all excited. Obviously, we had good success in [20]24 when everyone was healthy and hopefully, we can keep everybody on the field this year.”

Wirfs is still fighting to make it back onto the field at training camp after suffering a hamstring injury during conditioning tests. That injury isn't supposed to be serious, but the rest of the line is hard at work to learn offensive coordinator Zac Robinson's new wide zone scheme as camp continues.

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