With contract stalemates and a coaching seat warming up, Tampa Bay’s roster could be headed for a rebuild. Discover which stars could return at least one first-round draft pick.
Nothing beats a good old hypothetical trade.
Except for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, trading away a few of their top players might not be such a hypothetical.
There are several storylines in the works that could cause the Bucs to begin rebuilding if the upcoming 2026 season stumbles out of the gate.
The contract standoffs between the Bucs and quarterback Baker Mayfield and defensive tackle Vita Vea remain unresolved. If Tampa intends to let the season play out before deciding whether to extend two 31-year-old players, the organization may be convinced it is time to move on if it goes awry.
Head coach Todd Bowles is entering the season already on the hot seat. A slow start may lead to him being out before the season ends. If the Bucs part ways with Bowles, they might also be willing to do so with some of their veterans.
Of course, Tampa is still a talented team. They are expected to return to the playoffs in 2026, but proved last year that they can't be trusted to play up to their talent level. If they falter again, acquiring extra draft picks could help to jumpstart a rebuild, if that is the direction they decide to go in.
Which current Bucs would have the most value in the trade?
After recent trades that saw star players like Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, Sauce Gardner, Dexter Lawrence, and a few others traded for first-round picks (some more than one), Bill Barnwell of ESPN went through every team's roster and picked its players who could bring back at least one first-round pick in a trade.
Now, being on this list doesn't mean a player is on the trade block or would ever be traded. It is just Barnwell's valuation of what each player would be worth.
Take Josh Allen. The Buffalo Bills aren't trading Allen, but Barnwell believes he would be worth a whopping seven first-round picks if they did.
The Bucs have only three players who Barnwell believes could fetch at least a first-round pick in a trade, and one has yet to play a single game for Tampa.
Most Valuable Bucs
Barnwell lists left tackle Tristan Wirfs, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. as the three most valuable Bucs.
"Two first-round picks and more: OT Tristan Wirfs. The 27-year-old battled knee and oblique injuries last season, but if I had to pick someone to be the best left tackle in the NFL over the next five seasons, he would be my choice. Wirfs allowed a 4.7% pressure rate and a 0.8% quick pressure rate in 2024, both of which led all left tackles. His absence and (mildly) limited performance after returning also directly led to Tampa's struggles on the ground in 2025. He's a complete player and one of the most valuable non-quarterbacks in football.
"One first-round pick and more: WR Emeka Egbuka. It was a tale of two halves for the 19th pick of last year's draft, as Egbuka had 101-, 115- and 163-yard games in the first half of the season, then failed to top 65 yards in any single contest over the final two months. Is Egbuka the guy who was on pace for a 1,288-yard season through Week 9 or the one who produced at a 555-yard pace afterward? This trade projection splits the difference between those scenarios.
"One first-round pick: Edge Rueben Bain Jr. He fell further than expected in the first round of this year's draft and doesn't have the long, lanky body type that we might associate with elite edge rushers, but Bain's production at Miami in terms of generating sacks (20) and tackles for loss (33.5) is hard to dismiss. Teams might need to find a hybrid role for him where he rushes from the interior as often as he does from the edge, but that's hardly anything new for great pass rushers in an era when they move to attack and create mismatches more often than ever before."
No surprises here.
Wirfs was just named one of the most valuable franchise players in the entire NFL, while both Egbuka and Bain have the talent to become stars.
Several other Bucs barely missed the cut, as Barnwell notes.
"Missing out: Edge Yaya Diaby, OT Luke Goedeke, Edge Calijah Kancey, QB Baker Mayfield, DT Vita Vea, S Antoine Winfield Jr. The Bucs have a lot of good players but very few stars, which is borne out by the trade tiers here. Vea and Winfield are still high-end talents, but Vea is 31 years old and Winfield plays safety, which doesn't typically translate into significant trade value. Goedeke is one of the league's better right tackles when healthy, but he has missed most or all of 21 games over his first four seasons."
Final Thoughts
Even if the Bucs make the unlikely decision to rebuild, the three players Barnwell believes would bring the highest returns in a trade are the three Bucs who would be off-limits.
There is a lot of pressure on Tampa to succeed this year. Most of the players Barnwell mentioned as having close to a first-round value are aging, in the last year of their contract, or both.
If they want to have their futures in Tampa, they will need to show they can lead the team back to the playoffs in 2026.
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