In the Academy Award-winning 2006 film “The Departed” there’s a scene early in the film where Martin Sheen’s character, Captain Queenan, is recruiting Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, State Trooper Billy Costigan, to join an undercover task force to take down the Irish Mob.
“We deal in deception here,” Queenan tells Costigan as he explains the monumental task that awaits him. “What we do not deal with is self-deception.”
It’s a lesson the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be smart to take notes on as they stumble their way through an offseason of uncertainty that’s been highlighted, so far, by the loss of 2 of the greatest players in franchise history with wide receiver Mike Evans (free agency) and inside linebacker Lavonte David (retirement).
The Buccaneers displayed a stunning level of self-deception recently with a social media post trying to gas up 3rd year running back Bucky Irving while also promoting the upcoming NFL draft.
In the post, the Buccaneers shared a video clip of their 2024 pre-draft war room, with their brain trust siting around a table and praising Irving before they selected him in the 4th round (No. 125 overall) out of the University of Oregon.
“Bucky Irving was on our radar long before he became a star,” the Buccaneers wrote on their official X account.
It’s a wild thing to post for several reasons. It also kind of underlines exactly how out of touch the Buccaneers are with reality these days.
Bucky Irving Sure Doesn’t Seem Like NFL Star
While Irving had a breakout season as a rookie with 1,690 all-purpose yards and 8 touchdowns — including 1,122 rushing yards — much of that goodwill was wiped away in 2025.
Irving had a disastrous sophomore season in which he missed 7 games due to what ended up being an undefined set of injuries (shoulder? knee?) along with what were vaguely described as “mental health issues” but seemed to speak more to maturity issues for Irving.
In the end, the Buccaneers missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019 and Irving was a huge reason why after seeing his numbers essentially cut in half — he finished with 865 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns while averaging an anemic 3.4 yards per carry. That was down from 5.4 yards per carry in 2024.
So, calling him a star is more than a stretch. It’s fiction. The ironic thing is that the Buccaneers said they liked Irving before he was a star.
In his final 2 college seasons at Oregon after playing 1 season for Minnesota, Irving racked up 2,950 yards of total offense and scored 21 touchdowns. That included consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons over his 2 seasons.
Most people would call that … a star.
Buccaneers Could Be Down Bad in 2026
Irving wasn’t the only dealing with injury issues for the Buccaneers in 2025, and it’s a legitimate worry that the franchise may be paying a massive amount of money for key players on offense who can’t stay healthy.
On the offensive line, NFL All-Pro left offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs (5 games), right offensive tackle Luke Goedeke (6 games), and guard Cody Mauch (15 games) were all missing for huge chunks of the season.
Wide receiver was just as bad. Evans missed a career-high 9 games due to injuries, Jalen McMillan missed 13 games, and Chris Godwin missed 8 games after signing a 3-year, $66 million contract extension before the season.
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