Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign Emeka Egbuka to four-year, $18.1 million rookie contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially signed former Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka to his rookie contract. The 2025 No. 19 overall pick signed a four-year, $18.1 million deal on Friday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Egbuka, 22, was a bit of a surprise pick for the Buccaneers given the strength of their receiving room, which includes Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. But general manager Jason Licht fell in love with both the player and the person and went best player available in the first round. For him, that was Egbuka.

“He was super-high on our board,” Licht said of Egbuka on The Rich Eisen Show. “You know, Top 10 on our board, kind of stood out like a sore thumb.”

Egbuka is coming off a season in which he tallied a career-high 81 receptions for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns. With the standout campaign, he joined Marvin Harrison Jr. as only the second player in program history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

For his efforts, he was named an All-Big Ten Third Team selection. He was also a team captain on the Buckeyes, guiding them to their first national championship since 2014. Egbuka notched six catches for 64 yards in the win.

Egbuka’s all-conference selection in the 2024 campaign was far from the only accolade he collected during his collegiate career. He was a two-time All-Big Ten Third-Team selection, one-time All-Big Ten Second-Team member and three-time Academic All-Conference honoree. Moreover, His 205 career receptions and 2,868 yards are the most in school history.

Emeka Egbuka joins star-studded WR group in Tampa Bay

Egbuka is used to sharing targets. Throughout his time at Ohio State, he shared the field alongside players such as Harrison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jeremiah Smith. Now, he’ll get the chance to learn from two of the league’s best in Evans and Godwin.

“Chris and Mike, they’ve done it at a very high level for a very long time — which is something that I’m looking forward to doing in my NFL career as well — so I think just being able to learn from them, just the ins and outs of NFL football and just to pick their brains on stuff… I’m a student of the game,” Egbuka said. “I love learning about it, so having those guys in the same room with me is a blessing.”

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.