Buccaneers

The Buccaneers lost two of their veteran leaders this offseason after LB Lavonte David retired and WR Mike Evans signed with the 49ers. Tampa Bay C Graham Barton said it’s on them to adjust and move on as a team. 

“In the NFL, the only thing that’s consistent is change, right?” Barton said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “You know, that leadership figure in the community and the facility that Mike and Lavonte have been, and they’re incredible teammates. Their names should be around here for a long time for all that they’ve done for this place. But it’s a new year, right? It’s a new team and you’ve got to adjust and figure out where your strengths are and where you need to get better and kind of go from there.”

Buccaneers S Tykee Smith is taking it upon himself to step up as a leader. 

“I’m definitely looking to step up more with Lavonte (retiring) and just me going into my third year, I’m ready to become more of a voice on the team,” Smith said. “I think my leadership style will be more vocal than (Antoine Winfield Jr.). We both have two different approaches on how we say things if that makes sense.”

Smith praised David for helping him develop after arriving as a third-round pick in 2024, mentioning that the former linebacker taught him how to be a professional. 

“Since I got here, I think he played a big part the success I had early,” Smith said. “I think the biggest thing was just how to be a pro, how to go about it day to day, watching him and how he handled everything, how he prepared for games. I think sometimes he knew what was coming beforehand so just trying to take me under his wing was a real blessing my first few years.”

Buccaneers

• Missouri LB Josiah Trotter had a 30 visit with the Buccaneers. (JC Allen)
• Florida CB Devin Moore visited the Buccaneers. (Aaron Wilson)
• UCF DE Malachi Lawrence visited the Buccaneers. He counts as a local prospect. (Aaron Wilson)

Panthers

Panthers QB Bryce Young told reporters that he wants to maintain the consistency and improvements of last season while also recognizing that this year will be a new season with room for more growth.

“Obviously, we want to make sure that we can be consistent with some of the positives from last year, but also we understand that last year was last year,” Young said, via the team’s website. “This is a new season. We all start 0-0. There’s no carryover; we’re not entitled to anything, so I’m super grateful for that being our mindset as a team. Everyone knows we can’t take our foot off the gas. We have to work just as hard, if not harder, as we have these last few years. Everything’s earned, and now it’s not the time to be thinking about records or anything like that. It’s just about the work. Coach talks about that in the meetings. Now is just the time to win every single day, capture our best, so we’re focused on that.”