The Bucs are entering their 50th season since first donning the Bucco Bruce helmet and creamsicle uniforms in 1976. So it’s only fitting that Pewter Report unveils its Top 50 All-Time Bucs list.
The Buccaneers asked yours truly, Scott Reynolds, to provide my Top 50 list to the team for their media poll and I’ve decided to release my rankings to you over the next two weeks in the form of 10 articles – each with five Bucs greats. My list contains 25 Super Bowl champions – either from the 2002 or 2020 teams – as well as nine members of the 2025 team.
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 21-25
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 26-30
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 31-35
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 36-40
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 41-45
Top 50 All-Time Bucs: 46-50
So let’s continue with the next five players who make up the Top 50 All-Time Bucs and we’ll finish with the top 5 at the end of this series.
All-Time Bucs: 21-25
No. 16 – LB Hardy Nickerson
“Hardware” Helped Turn The Yuccaneers Into The Buccaneers
Before Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch turned the Bucs into a defensive powerhouse, middle linebacker Hardy Nickerson was the one who set the tone. Signed as a free agent from Pittsburgh in 1993, Nickerson didn’t just bring experience. He brought an edge, some needed fire, and a whole new standard to Tampa Bay’s defense.
Nickerson was the prototype middle linebacker: smart, physical, vocal, and relentless. Simply put, he was the heartbeat of the Bucs defense in the mid-to-late 1990s. In his seven seasons with Tampa Bay, Nickerson racked up 926 tackles, 13.5 sacks, seven interceptions, and forced 13 fumbles. He topped 100 tackles in every season with the Bucs, including a franchise-record 214 tackles in 1993, his first year with the team. That mark still stands to this day.
Former Bucs MLB Hardy Nickerson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Nickerson, who was nicknamed “Hardware” wasn’t just productive, he was dominant. He earned five Pro Bowl selections (four with Tampa Bay) and was a first-team All-Pro in 1997. Nickerson anchored a young Bucs defense that would soon become one of the most feared units in the NFL. While Sapp brought the swagger and Brooks brought the range, Nickerson brought the flex and was the defense’s vocal leader as a team captain.
His Incredible Hulk poses after big hits, sacks and third down stops made him a fan favorite. And as the wins piled up under his leadership, the Yuccaneers transformed into the Buccaneers. Nickerson brought credibility to a franchise that was long seen as a punchline. He made free agents take Tampa Bay seriously. He made losing unacceptable. When the Bucs started their climb toward respectability in the mid-’90s, it was Nickerson leading the charge.
No. 17 – QB Baker Mayfield
From Castoff To Tampa Bay’s Team Captain
When the Bucs signed Baker Mayfield to a one-year prove-it deal in 2023, most fans saw it as a stopgap – a bridge quarterback after the Tom Brady era. What they got instead was one of the best comeback stories in franchise history. Mayfield didn’t just revive his career in Tampa Bay. He helped stabilize a team that could’ve easily spiraled after Brady departed a few years after delivering a Super Bowl LV championship.
After bouncing around from Cleveland to Carolina and briefly Los Angeles with the Rams, Mayfield came to Tampa Bay humbled, but also with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. In 2023, he threw for a career-high 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions, leading the Bucs to a third straight NFC South title and a Wild Card win over the Eagles. He became the first Bucs QB not named Brady to throw for 4,000 yards since Jameis Winston in 2019 – but with a lot fewer turnovers.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Mayfield brought more than gaudy stats and a live arm. He brought swagger, leadership, and a gritty, underdog mentality that clicked with the locker room and fanbase alike. Mayfield played hurt, took hits, extended plays, and kept the offense afloat in his first year with the Bucs. He even earned his first Pro Bowl nod, which was something no one saw coming when the season began.
That success resulted in a three-year, $100 million contract extension prior to the 2024 offseason. Last year, Mayfield took his game to a new level under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, passing for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and completing a career-high 71.4% of his passes. That earned Mayfield his second Pro Bowl berth.
Tampa Bay might not have been where his journey started, but it’s where Mayfield found his groove again. As he enters his third season in red and pewter, he has the Bucs poised to win yet another NFC South and perhaps a Super Bowl as he simultaneously enters the NFL MVP conversation.
No. 18 – CB Donnie Abraham
“The Iceman” was The Bucs’ Underrated INT Machine
When you think of the legendary Bucs defenses of the late 1990s and early 2000s, names like Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Ronde Barber quickly come to mind due to their Hall of Fame status. But make no mistake, cornerback Donnie Abraham was every bit as important in that mix. In fact, Abraham was the Bucs’ top interceptor when he was on the team and set the franchise record that Barber would eventually break.
Drafted in the third round in 1996 out of East Tennessee State, Abraham quickly proved he belonged. Quiet, consistent, and sneaky productive, he was a true ballhawk in Monte Kiffin’s Tampa 2 defensive scheme. In just six seasons with Tampa Bay, Abraham totaled an eye-popping 31 interceptions and averaged five picks per season, which remains a franchise record to this day – along with the five INTs he had in 1996, which remains a team rookie record.
Bucs legendary CB Donnie Abraham – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
His best season came in 1999, when he picked off a career-high seven passes, added 21 passes defensed, and helped lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship Game. That year, he earned second-team All-Pro honors and solidified himself as one of the top cornerbacks in the league. He had five or more picks in four different seasons in pewter and red and made one Pro Bowl in Tampa Bay.
Abraham knew when to jump a route, bait a quarterback, or stick with a top receiver. He had great instincts and ball skills, as well as supreme coverage ability. I nicknamed Abraham “The Iceman” because he was so cool under pressure that he played like he had ice in his veins. He’s still the second-best cornerback in franchise history behind Barber to this day.
No. 19 – DT Vita Vea
The Monster In The Middle Of Tampa Bay’s Defense
When the Bucs traded down and selected Vita Vea with the 12th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the goal was simple. Find a defensive tackle who could clog the middle, stop the run, and let the rest of the defense eat. What Tampa Bay got was a whole lot more. Vea has become a disruptive force at nose tackle, combining rare size (6-4, 347 pounds) with amazing athleticism and explosive power. He’s not just a space-eater. Vea is a pocket-pusher, a gap-closer, and a headache for any offensive line.
After a rookie year that saw him come on strong late, Vea thrived the next season as a 3-4 nose tackle in Todd Bowles defense, which was the NFL’s top-ranked run unit. But it was during the 2020 Super Bowl season that he truly broke out. Even with a broken leg that sidelined him for most of the year, Vea’s return for the NFC Championship and Super Bowl made an instant impact up front. When Vea is on the field, everyone else plays better.
Bucs DT Vita Vea and 49ers QB Brock Purdy – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Throughout his first seven seasons in Tampa Bay, Vea has racked up 30.5 sacks, 222 tackles, 41 tackles for loss and a pair of forced fumbles. But his impact goes beyond the box score. Vea consistently eats up double teams, frees up the linebackers behind him, and anchors the Bucs’ interior defense.
In 2022, Vea led the team with 6.5 sacks, showcasing just how much juice he brings as a pass rusher. He earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2021 and followed that up with another Pro Bowl berth in 2024 after recording a career-high seven sacks.
Vea has become a team captain on defense and is playing his best football at age 30. If the Bucs have the chance to win another Super Bowl before he retires, it will be because of this monster in the middle of Bowles’ defense.
No. 20 – S Antoine Winfield Jr.
Todd Bowles’ Ultimate Chess Piece
When the Bucs drafted Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, they knew they were getting talent. What they didn’t know is that they were getting one of the smartest, hardest-hitting playmaking safeties in the league. The son of former Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield Sr. wasted no time carving out his own name.
He started all 16 games as a rookie and was a key cog in the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV run, notching 94 tackles, six passes defensed, three sacks, an interception and an unforgettable, iconic peace out sign to Tyreek Hill just moments before winning the championship. Winfield also recorded a pick on Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl to cap off a sensational rookie season.
Since then, Winfield has only gotten better. In four seasons, he’s racked up 444 total tackles, 17 sacks, 11 forced fumbles with nine recoveries and notched seven interceptions. What really sets him apart is his versatility. He’s the ultimate chess piece in Todd Bowles’ defense – a guy who can play deep, drop down in the box, blitz, or even line up over the slot.
In 2023, he had a career year with 122 tackles, six sacks, three interceptions, and a league-leading six forced fumbles with four recoveries. A notable Pro Bowl snub, Winfield wound up as a first-team All-Pro instead. An injury-filled 2024 season followed after he became the NFL’s highest-paid defensive back, but expect a bounce-back season in 2025.
Winfield, a team captain, is known as a film junkie and one of the smartest guys on the defense. He’s got that rare mix of football IQ, instincts, and big-play ability in his game. He’s everywhere the ball is. The Bucs have built their secondary around him, and for good reason: Winfield is the real deal, and he’s only entering his prime. If he can return to form this season he’ll continue on a Hall of Fame trajectory as he’s already the second-best safety in franchise history.