The 2025 season will be the 50th campaign for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the league's 27th franchise that began play in 1976. We're marking the occasion with a deep dive into that rich half-century of history, celebrating some of the greatest individual performances ever in a Buccaneer uniform. It's the biggest games, the most prolific seasons and the most incredible careers. All of this allows us to remember some of the franchise's greatest moments but also set the bar for players who will chase history over the next 50 years.
Today, we look at the top passing seasons in team history, in terms of yards, which as you probably expect has a very modern lean. The first Buccaneer quarterback ever to eclipse 3,000 passing yards in a season was Doug Williams in 1980, the franchise's fifth season. Nobody made the leap from there to a 4,000-yard season in Tampa until Josh Freeman in 2012, the franchise's 37th season. Since then, Buccaneer passers have produced seven more seasons with 4,000-plus yards, including two that topped 5,000 yards.
So, yeah, these are going to be very familiar names. We thought about including just one season for any given quarterback, but that didn't seem quite fair to the G.O.A.T. Instead, we'll just give Freeman one more shout out, as his 4,065 groundbreaking season in 2012 now ranks seventh on the team's all-time list. Of the four 4,000-yard campaigns that are just outside the top five, Winston has two and Freeman and Baker Mayfield have one each.
View photos of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers participating in OTAs at AdventHealth Training Center on May 29, 2025.
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Defensive Lineman Calijah Kancey #94 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Outside Linebacker David Walker #51, Outside Linebacker Warren Peeples #59, and Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby #0 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Cornerback Tyrek Funderburk #24 and Cornerback Zyon McCollum #27 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Defensive Tackle Desmond Watson #56 and Safety Shilo Sanders #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Helmet during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Helmet during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby #0 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Shilo Sanders #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Defensive Lineman Calijah Kancey #94 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Helmet during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Center Graham Barton #62, Guard Cody Mauch #69, and Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Tackle Garret Greenfield #74 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Linebacker Antonio Grier Jr. #48 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Cornerback Bryce Hall #34 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Shilo Sanders #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Kaevon Merriweather #26 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Marcus Banks #39 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Rashad Wisdom #38 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Shilo Sanders #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety Kaevon Merriweather #26 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety JJ Roberts #36 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Safety JJ Roberts #36 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Cornerback Tyrek Funderburk #24 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby #0 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Outside Linebacker Jose Ramirez #33 and Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby #0 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Defensive Tackle Desmond Watson #56 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Defensive Lineman Logan Hall #90 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Helmet during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Wide Receiver Tez Jonson #83 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Linebacker Anthony Walker #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Wide Receiver Emeka Egbuka #9 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 and Quarterbacks Coach Thaddeus Lewis of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Connor Bazelak #8 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Wide Receiver Garrett Greene #85 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Wide Receiver Kameron Johnson #19 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Buccaneers logo during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Josh Williams #37 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Bucky Irving #7 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Bucky Irving #7 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Bucky Irving #7 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Head Coach Todd Bowles recognizes Rob Julian, the Buccaneers' Director of Athletic Fields and Grounds, on his retirement after 32 years, following OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Rob Julian, the Buccaneers' Director of Athletic Fields and Grounds, leads the team huddle in celebration of his retirement after 32 years, following OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Bucky Irving #7 and Safety Shilo Sanders #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL - May 29, 2025 - Running Back Bucky Irving #7 and Wide Receiver Tez Jonson #83 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during OTA's at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Top Five Passing Yardage Seasons in Buccaneers History
1. Tom Brady, 5,316 yards, 2021
The Buccaneers shook the NFL with a seismic move in 2020, convincing quarterback Tom Brady to join their cause after he had already played 20 seasons and won six Super Bowl rings in New England. That produced the desired outcome, as Brady led the Bucs to the big game and got his seventh ring in his very first season with the Buccaneers, in which he threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns at the age of 43.
From a statistical standpoint, Brady got even better after turning 44. In 2021, he was at the helm of the NFL's most prolific passing attack, setting team records with 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns. Brady finished second in the NFL MVP voting to Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, who he had outdueled in the previous year's NFC Championship Game, and had the highest yardage total and second-highest touchdown total of his illustrious career. Along the way he had three games with 400-plus passing yards and six with four or more touchdown passes.
That performance led the Bucs to a team-record 13-4 finish in the regular season and the first of what would be four consecutive NFC South Division championships (and counting). In the playoffs, he threw two more touchdown passes in an opening-round blowout of Philadelphia, then racked up 329 yards against the Rams while leading a stunning comeback from a 27-6 second-half deficit to a late-game tie before Los Angeles won it at the gun.
2. Jameis Winston, 5,109 yards, 2019
The first-overall pick in the 2015 draft, Winston played exactly five seasons in Tampa, which was enough time for him to set the franchise's career record for passing yards (19,737) and touchdown passes (121). That was an average of almost 4,000 yards per season, and the only year he failed to crack the 3,000-yard mark was a 2,992-yard campaign in 2018 in which only played in 11 games with nine starts.
Winston's yardage total peaked in 2019, the last year of his rookie contract and his last season in Tampa, when he set then-Bucs records with 5,109 yards and 33 touchdown passes. It was a very eventful year for Winston, playing under Head Coach Bruce Arians for the first time, as he led the NFL with 626 pass attempts but also threw 30 interceptions to forge the first 30-TD/30-INT season in league history.
Winston had three 400-yard outings during the 2019 season, including two in December, both of which also included four touchdown passes in key victories over the Colts and Lions as the Bucs' chased a playoff berth. However, he also threw 10 picks in the last four games and the team ultimately missed the playoffs with a 7-9 record.
It should be noted that Winston's 5,000-yard performance came during a 16-game season, before the NFL added a 17th game to the schedule in 2021.
3. Tom Brady, 4,694 yards, 2022
After averaging a team-record 30.1 points per game in 2021 during Brady's age-45 season, the Buccaneers' offense cratered in 2022, scoring almost 200 fewer points than the year before. However, Brady still threw an NFL-record 733 passes and finished with 4,694 yards and another 25 touchdowns. The Bucs' passing attack ranked second in total yards but had no balance as the team finished with the fewest rushing yards in the league.
In what would prove to be the penultimate regular-season game of his career, Brady racked up 432 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a critical comeback win over Carolina in Week 17, which clinched the Bucs' second straight division title. He was pulled early in a meaningless Week 18 game at Atlanta, but closed out his incredible postseason career with a 351-yard outing with two touchdowns in a loss to Dallas.
With one final 4,600-yard season on his resume, Brady ended his career with an NFL record 89,214 yards, nearly 9,000 more than Drew Brees in second place. Brady's 25 touchdown passes pushed his career mark to 649, 78 more than Brees for the top spot.
4. Tom Brady, 4,633 yards, 2020
Again, this was Brady's first season in Tampa, and his final numbers were kind of remarkable given that the COVID-19 pandemic essentially wiped out his chance to build chemistry with his new teammates on offense. That was evident in the early going, as his totals after three starts included six touchdowns, three interceptions and an average of 251 passing yards per game. However, in just his fourth game with the Bucs Brady erupted for 369 yards and five touchdowns in shootout comeback win over Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
Three weeks later, Brady tossed four touchdown passes in a 369-yard game in Las Vegas, which the Buccaneers won, 45-20. Still, he and the offense didn't fully hit their stride until after the Bucs' Week 13 bye. After that rest, the Bucs would win eight straight culminating in a Super Bowl LV blowout of Kansas City, and Brady would have a run of four consecutive games with 348 or more passing yards. In season-capping wins at Detroit and vs. Atlanta, he combined for 747 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception. He threw 10 more touchdown passes in the playoffs, giving him an even 50 on the season as a whole, with at least two in each of the team's four contests. He was named the MVP of the Buccaneers' 31-9 Super Bowl win after throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
This 4,600-yard campaign was also achieved during a 16-game season.
5. Baker Mayfield, 4,500 yards, 2024
Mayfield had the unenviable task of succeeding Tom Brady after signing with the Buccaneers in 2023 and prevailing over holdover Kyle Trask in a training camp battle for the starting job. Originally the first-overall pick in the 2018 draft by the Browns, he had spent the previous year on the move, first traded by the Browns to Carolina and then eventually released by the Panthers and signing with the Rams late in the season. He has since revived his career in Tampa with two of the best seasons by a quarterback in franchise history.
His first season at the Bucs' helm, which included 4,044 yards and 28 touchdown passes – at the time career highs for Mayfield – was temporarily the seventh-highest passing yardage season in franchise history but he blew by those numbers in his second season. Last fall, Mayfield once again set a new career high with 41 touchdown passes, just two shy of Brady's 2021 team record, and hit the 4,500-yard mark exactly. He got to that nice round number on one of the most famous plays in franchise history, as Mike Evans' nine-yard catch on the last play of the regular season pushed his record streak of 1,000-yard campaigns to 11.
Mayfield didn't hit the 400-yard mark in any game in 2024 but he did have six 300-yard outings and four with four or more touchdown passes. He started out relatively slowly on the way to 4,500 yards, with fewer than 200 in three of the Bucs' first four games. However, he flashed red hot down the stretch as the Bucs were in a tight race for a playoff spot, with 1,466 yards and 16 touchdowns over the last five weeks.
In the playoffs, Mayfield completed 15 of 18 passes against Washington, throwing for 185 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, but the Commanders pulled out a three-point win at the end of regulation.
