Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Record: 10-7 (First in the NFC South)
Coach: Todd Bowles
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been chasing the same level of greatness they achieved in 2021 ever since future Hall of Famer Tom Brady retired. The Bucs have had their chances since that season to make some noise, making the playoffs every single season since. The issue is that they haven’t done much with those opportunities. The team hasn’t made it past the Divisional Round since the year they won it all and frankly they haven’t been expected to do so. The team is perpetually in a position to be a playoff team but not a serious contender. They have a ton of pieces that other teams would kill to have, including a dynamic receiving core of Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Jalen McMillan, and franchise QB Baker Mayfield. On top of that the Bucs defense is stacked with talent, especially with the front 7, including Vita Vea, Lavonte David, and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Yet the team seems to be unable to put it all together to make a genuine run in the postseason.
Their offense was third in the league for YPG, they had a 1,000 yard rusher in surprise star rookie Bucky Irving, and the 5th best rushing defense in the NFL. However, the Bucs pass defense was pretty atrocious. They were 28th in pass yards allowed per game, which helped to completely cancel out their 4th best PPG. Bottom line the Bucs aren’t perfect, and unfortunately for them luck was not ever really on their side. There were multiple games this season where the Bucs got the game to overtime and never got to touch the ball. Then overtime came back to haunt them again in the postseason, though that definitely is not what undid them.
The Bucs offseason is going to be extremely crucial to the future of the franchise. The team is in a very vulnerable spot. They have set themselves up with a decent young core on both sides of the ball, but will need to maintain multiple key players along with adding on some new faces if they want any chance of competing for a title in 2025.
The resignings will be of utmost importance for this team’s success going forward. Lavonte David, Chris Godwin, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Anthony Nelson. These players have been major contributors to the franchise for years now and still play a massive role in their success. Most notably David led the team in tackles this year, and Godwin was on pace for a career year before severely injuring his ankle. These four will be the ones all Bucs fans anxiously wait for a decision from, as the future of their team depends on it.
This issue is that the Bucs are 3 million dollars in debt. They can find a way to bring back some of these guys, but unfortunately probably not all of them. Godwin looks as though he is already halfway out the door, and Lavante David is expected to retire any day now. These complications make it more likely that Tampa will have to replace at least half of these 4.
The lack of cap space makes it hard for the Bucs to be able to make any major signings so most of their additions will need to come through the draft. The Bucs currently hold the 19th pick in the 2025 draft. They will have an opportunity to snag quite a few players of need in thai spot, including most likely have their pick of the litter when it comes to DBs. I can see them going after ECU star Shavon Revel or Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison. In the later rounds they will need to add some receiving and linebacker depth. I can see them targeting Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell and Texas Receiver Matthew Golden.
The offseason for Tampa with go under the radar but make no mistake this will be a franchise altering year for them. The bottom line is that the Bucs have plenty of room to improve but if they make they wrong moves they might find themselves at the bottom of the NFC South this time next year.
