Can The Bucs Get A Full Season – And A Breakout – From Jalen McMillan In 2026?

The countdown to the Bucs’ 2026 season is on. Right now, we’re:

78 days away from Bucs regular season kickoff
48 days away from Bucs preseason kickoff
32 days away from Bucs training camp

In the lead-up to training camp, Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams will be diving into storylines for 26 key figures who will be crucial to the Bucs’ success in 2026.

Today, the series continues with wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

26 For ‘26: Jalen McMillan Bucs Storylines In 2026

Can The Bucs Get A Full Season Of Jalen McMillan In Year 3?

Given the way his first two NFL seasons went, Jalen McMillan has to be hoping that in 2026, he’ll get to have a normal, healthy season for the first time in his career. Because as much promise as the 2024 third-round pick out of Washington has shown in his age-23 and age-24 seasons, there’s been the dreaded caveat of “when he’s on the field…” Perhaps the No. 1 goal this season will be to quash that caveat and put together a full Year 3.

It was a fast start for McMillan in 2024, as he tore it up throughout the summer and into training camp, looking the part of an instant-impact receiver in the Bucs offense. Then, he brought in his first career touchdown in Tampa Bay’s season-opening win over Washington, making for a memorable NFL debut. But that was the lone highlight early on in the season for the rookie, and then a few weeks later, he suffered a hamstring injury that cost him two games. He came back soon after, but the hamstring flared up again and cost him two more games.

McMillan then came back and finally put it all together to finish his rookie campaign on a historic run. He caught seven touchdowns over the Bucs’ final five games of the year to give him eight for the season. In the end, he had 37 catches on 58 targets (63.8%) for 461 yards (12.5 avg.) and those eight scores. The way he finished the season seemed to set him up nicely for an even bigger second season in 2025.

But that didn’t come to fruition due to a scary neck injury he suffered during the preseason. He went up high for a Teddy Bridgewater pass and came down on his neck, fracturing three vertebrae in his neck and suffering herniated discs. He was very nearly paralyzed, and at the very least, it was a career-threatening injury that forced him into a neck brace for 3.5 months. But he eventually made a triumphant return to the field in December, playing in Tampa Bay’s final four games of the season after that serious neck injury cost him the first 13.

The Buccaneer offense was a disjointed mess down the stretch last year, but McMillan did put up a seven-catch, 114-yard performance against the Dolphins in his third game back. He has looked good this offseason and could be a heavily featured receiver in Zac Robinson’s offense this fall. But the main thing is that after playing in 17 out of a possible 34 games over his first two seasons, the third-year receiver will be looking to make it through 2026 with a clean bill of health. And more than anything, he’ll surely just be happy to be out there on the field and in position to contribute.

Is Jalen McMillan A Dark Horse Candidate To Be The Bucs’ WR1?

So, speaking of that featured role in Zac Robinson’s offense… Is Jalen McMillan a dark horse candidate to be Baker Mayfield’s go-to receiver? When you look at the WR1 situation now that Mike Evans has moved on to San Francisco, it’s fair to consider veteran Chris Godwin Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, last year’s first-round pick first. But there very well could be an outside shot for No. 15 to be the No. 1 guy in a lot of situations this season.

As Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo astutely outlined in this week’s edition of his Queipo’s Cover 4 column, McMillan has shown an ability to win against man coverage in ways that Godwin and Egbuka really haven’t, and that puts him in a position that could be extremely valuable to Robinson’s offense in 2026. Here’s a small excerpt from Queipo’s Cover 4 on McMillan:

“That matters more than ever. Neither Chris Godwin Jr. nor Emeka Egbuka has shown of late they can win against man the way McMillan can. Egbuka, the breakout rookie, was swallowed up by man coverage in 2025, catching just seven of 27 targets at 0.91 yards per route run. That is the exact downfield man role Evans just vacated [when he left] for San Francisco, and the roster has no obvious heir. McMillan is the closest thing to one, and he is sitting third on the depth chart.

“It also puts him in a unique position within the concept of the play. Offensive coordinators like to build their route concepts with both a zone-beater and a man-beater built in. And if McMillan is the team’s most reliable man matchup, at least until rookie Ted Hurst gets up to speed, he may be featured more often than any of us think he will.”

“…He may be featured more often than any of us think he will.”

Hmmm. That’s really interesting, especially when you consider that McMillan’s ascension at the end of 2024 never really had a chance to continue into 2025 due to that preseason neck injury.

Perhaps the rise continues this year and turns into a full breakout. If so, combine a breakout year with his existing versatility and the role he could be asked to play in this offense and you really get the sense that McMillan may not even be a dark horse option to be Tampa Bay’s WR1. He may be a full-fledged favorite.

How Will Jalen McMillan’s Long-Term Future With The Bucs Begin To Take Shape?

It feels odd to already be considering what Jalen McMillan’s long-term future with the Bucs may look like, but he is entering Year 3 and as it stands right now, 2027 will be a contract year for the soon-to-be 25-year-old. So, what does that future look like? Right now, it’s hard to say, and it feels like a lot of the answer to that question is riding on this upcoming season.

If McMillan has a true breakout season – something along the lines of continuing the run he had at the end of his 2024 rookie season – and nears or breaks 1,000 yards, scores five or six touchdowns and features as a key part of Tampa Bay’s offense, that could set him up for a pre-2027 contract extension. General manager Jason Licht, assistant general manager Mike Greenberg and Co. have done that in recent years with the likes of Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke and Zyon McCollum to avoid seeing them play out their contract years. The team could do that again this year, perhaps with Yaya Diaby.

On the other hand, his fault or not, McMillan has been limited to 17 out of a possible 34 games over the first two years of his career. What happens if he has an injury-riddled 2026 season? At that point, maybe the Bucs have him play out his contract year in 2027 before making a decision on his future with the organization.

Staying healthy and producing could go a long way for McMillan this year not just in terms of what he’s doing for the team’s success but also in setting himself up for that possible contract extension next summer (or whenever the team has a clearer picture of its finances for the 2027 season). The Bucs would certainly love to have this year play out in a positive way and see McMillan establish himself as a big part of the future. The 2024 third-round pick and 2025 first-rounder Emeka Egbuka feel like heirs to the thrones that have been occupied by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. for so many years. It’s up to them to live up to that, though.

In that same Queipo’s Cover 4 column that Josh Queipo wrote about McMillan this week, the topic of a possible new contract for McMillan did come up. Queipo cited the injury history as a limiting factor in determining his exact value right now, as many of the player comps that work for McMillan would put him around the $4.5 million per year mark.

But he’s also younger than those comps, and the factor of breakout potential has Queipo thinking that number could go up to as high as $10 million per year for a current value around two years, $20 million.

There are still potentially two more years to play out, though, so only time will tell. But the first of those two years could go a long way in clearing up McMillan’s place in Tampa Bay’s future plans.

Catch Up On Previous Installments Of Bailey Adams’ 26 For ’26 Series

Baker Mayfield
Bucky Irving
Kenny Gainwell
Chris Godwin Jr.
Emeka Egbuka