Todd Bowles Confirms Buccaneers Will Add Depth to This Key Position in Offseason

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost plenty of key contributors this offseason, with the obvious ones being two future Hall of Famers in Mike Evans and Lavonte David. Losing Evans and David are gut punches to the team. However, while they headline the departures, a few others will have a drastic impact on the team.

The Bucs' best cornerback, veteran Jamel Dean, left in free agency for the Pittsburgh Steelers after taking a major pay cut on his 2025 contract. Swiss army knife Christian Izien left for more playing time with the Detroit Lions and valuable depth corner Kindle Vildor also walked on the open market, signing a deal with the New England Patriots.

For a secondary that struggled, it wasn't ideal to see three key players in the secondary leave, and when posed with whether the team needed another corner at the annual NFL Owners Meeting, head coach Todd Bowles wasn't shy in stating that its utmost importance.

CB a Major Need for Bucs

“We definitely need another cornerback," Bowles said, per ESPN. "Whether it's a veteran or whether it's a draftable pick remains to be seen and we'll kind of go from there. But we like to add one or two to the mix.”

The Buccaneers have been undergoing a youth movement in their secondary, but they are looking relatively thin at the cornerback position after seeing the departures in free agency.

As it currently stands, the Bucs' cornerback depth chart will have two second-year starters in Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison, with Zyon McCollum holding down the boundary. Parrish has shown that he will be a playmaker in this league, but as for Morrison and McCollum, there is still much more to be desired from their play.

Buccaneers Cornerback — Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jacob Parrish (25) celebrates with safety Christian Izien (29) and cornerback Kindle Vildor (22) Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Behind the three starters, the likes of Josh Hayes, J.J. Roberts and Demarion Williams are the only backups currently on the roster.

The room must be filled out as Bowles stated, and they would honestly be better at bringing in one guy via free agency and then another somewhere in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft.

The entire Bucs defense struggled last season, and they haven't done much to calm the feelings that we could once again see them have pain points in 2026. However, if they can somehow figure out how to hit the nail on the head in the draft, things could turn around fairly quickly for the defense.

Getting pressure from the edges and having better coverage from the backers in coverage will go a long way in helping out a secondary that was ranked 27th in passing defense a season ago. Without every level of the defense doing its job, it won't matter who or how many bodies are back in the secondary, and thus, Bowles' defense could once again fall flat on its face.

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