And just like that – Dave Canales is no longer the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In a very surprising move, the arch rival Carolina Panthers snagged Canales away from the Bucs and named him head coach for 2024, and what should also be, beyond. It’s only surprising because 2023 was Canales’ first year as an offensive coordinator and play-caller. He did a solid job with the Bucs, last year, while displaying good leadership skills, communication, and positive energy. It’s mainly a surprise due to his overall inexperience at the top.

Don’t get it twisted: This is an absolute gut-punch for the Bucs. Canales brought tons of energy and a modernized scheme to the Bucs offense and the results were on display throughout most of the season. He resurrected Baker Mayfield’s career and helped multiple other players, including five-time Pro Bowler Mike Evans, have one of their best seasons -if not the best season- of their careers.

A foundation was being built, but now, that’s in jeopardy, thanks to the Panthers. A big reason why that’s the case is because, now, it’s anyone’s guess as to what happens with Mayfield and Evans – two huge pieces of the Bucs’ puzzle.

Mayfield, most likely, will not follow Canales to Carolina unless it pulls off an unforeseen trade of Bryce Young. Considering the resources the Panthers gave up and what they would get back after last year’s disaster, new general manager Dan Morgan probably won’t make that move. There are contractual obligations that will keep Young in Charlotte, too. The Panthers can’t even trade him before June 1 without incurring a cap hit of nearly $10 million. When lumping in the fact Carolina has just $26,539,166 in effective cap space and very few contracts that can be modified/players that can be released in order to create sizable space – it seems even more unlikely the Panthers move Young.

Mayfield also knows, firsthand, what owner David Tepper can be like and we’ve all seen his shenanagins, lately, so that’s something to account for, as well.

We’ve certainly seen teams bypass top draft picks in favor of established veterans, however, and one doesn’t have to go any further than the New York Jets and Zach Wilson/Aaron Rodgers.

It’s not very likely that Mayfield goes back to Carolina, but don’t completely rule it out, either.

What about Mike Evans?
I don’t think Canales in Carolina is enough for Evans to go there, either. The guy has made plenty of money over the course of his career and he has won so much over the back half of his time in Tampa Bay – why would he risk being on a bottom feeder, again?

Evans is going to have plenty of suitors if he makes it to free agency and some of them will be top teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. It simply doesn’t make sense to tie what’s likely his last big contract to a team in rebuild mode.

It’s going to come down to either wanting to finish his career in Tampa Bay, or go chase one more ring. Let’s be honest – the Bucs are building something, but we have no clue if the next OC will be able to build off what Canales has done, or how long it’ll take to do so. Therefore, it’s easy to see why Evans would latch onto an elite squad, if given the chance.

The Bucs need to either a) replace Canales with someone in-house, which is risky in itself because there isn’t any play-calling experience (outside Harold Goodwin and he’s more apt to the Arians offense) among the top offensive assistants or b) hire an OC that Mayfield is comfortable with and has had prior success with (think Alex Van Pelt and not Freddie Kitchens, for the love of God). To me, those are the only routes to keep Mayfield in Tampa.

And if the Bucs can keep Mayfield, there’s a good shot Evans stays, too. But at this point, both seem like a package deal and said package is certainly lost in the mail, right now, while the Bucs try to figure out where to go, from here.