A few plays were all it took for the NFL to find issues with the Buccaneers’ OTAs. The league handed the NFC South franchise a setback after learning that its sessions were taking place at a level of contact and intensity that exceeded the guidelines governing this portion of the offseason. Head coach Todd Bowles isn’t disputing the punishment, but he wants one detail understood.

“We gave them off Tuesday; Tuesday was their day off,” Bowles clarified after Thursday’s OTA session. “Wednesday, by the league, looking at the first practice, we had too many guys on the ground, so they took a practice from us. So Wednesday was by their doing; Tuesday was already set in motion for our doing. And we cleaned it up after that. We understand. We aren’t trying to get anybody hurt. That was the basis of it.” 

NFL offseason regulations strictly govern the OTAs to limit contact and reduce the risk of injury ahead of training camp. During the OTAs, teams can conduct 7-on-7, 9-on-7, or 11-on-11 drills, but live contact is strictly prohibited. One reason for this is that while players are permitted to wear helmets, they can have on no pads except for protective knee and elbow pads. 

If the practice field gets overly crowded, the risk of contact rises. The front office, players, and the NFL certainly don’t want that. But it wasn’t the entire practice session that got the Bucs in trouble.

“It was about three or four plays that recorded us,” the head coach continued. “We’re trying to practice safety as well. We’ve got a lot of new guys trying to learn how to practice, but we cleaned that up and took care of it.” 

In the 2026 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay acquired seven players. The list includes first-round pick OLB Rueben Bain Jr., second-round LB Josiah Trotter, and third-round WR Ted Hurst. On the final day, the team drafted CB Keionte Scott, DT DeMonte Capehart, G Billy Schrauth, and TE Bauer Sharp. In addition to these seven, the Bucs also signed 14 undrafted free agents. 

In understanding how things work in the NFL, the new draft picks and undrafted free agents may have been a tad enthusiastic, which led to the OTA violation and penalty that is unprecedented for an NFC South franchise. However, there have been previous occurrences of NFL franchises being punished for OTA contact violations.

Two years ago, the Detroit Lions had to give up a practice day for violating work rules regarding on-field physical contact. In 2023, the Bears lost an OTA for the same reason, and the Cowboys served a similar penalty for violating OTA rules a year earlier. These teams got off light compared to some of the penalties imposed in the past. 

2016 saw the Seattle Seahawks lose three OTA days for their 2017 season, forfeit a 2017 fifth-round draft pick, and receive a $400,000 fine. On an individual level, the team’s then head coach, Pete Carroll, was also fined $200,000. The magnitude may have been due to it being the team’s third OTA violation after their penalties in 2012 and 2014.

Nevertheless, the Bucs are moving forward. 

Todd Bowles is focused on moving the Buccaneers ‘forward’

Despite the league’s intervention, the players have refused to lose their competitive edge. Running back Kenneth Gainwell noted that the team must follow the rules. But he also acknowledged the need to stay above ground and build the fire to get them through the season. 

Fellow RB Bucky Irving backed Gainwell by attending his first practice session of the season after getting off-season surgery on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Bowles took note of the WR room. 

“The way our receivers went down last year, you need a ton of them,” Bowles said earlier this month. “So we’re going to need everybody in that room going forward. Hopefully, nobody goes down but to draft a guy like Hurst to go with the other athletes we have in there, that just enhances everybody else’s competition.” 

Losing a valuable OTA session is undoubtedly frustrating for a team trying to install a winning culture. But the young roster seems ready to clash for success in the 2026 season.