Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offseason Priorities

Offseason Looming on the Horizon in Tampa Bay

After nearly a month of celebration in the aftermath of Super Bowl LV, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already back to work. With free agency looming on the horizon, head coach Bruce Arians and general manager Jason Licht have many crucial decisions to orchestrate in order to retain a Super Bowl caliber squad. The team has possibly the most intriguing free agency situation in the league, as there are arguably eight key free agents of importance on the team.

Free Agents

The key free agents are fairly balanced out on all aspects of the football, with multiple on the offense, multiple on the defense, and one on special teams. Luckily for the Buccaneers, a few of these free agents have already expressed great interest in returning to Tampa Bay. However, it will be almost impossible for the team to keep everyone with the dreaded salary cap in place. With that being said, let’s take a look at the most important free agents for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

1. Lavonte David

Lavonte David should be prioritized more than anyone on the Buccaneers this offseason. David qualifies as one of the only starters on the Buccaneers squad to spend his whole career with the franchise so far. The free agent linebacker played a whopping 99.3% of the snaps over the 2020 season and acts as the heart and soul of the Tampa Bay defense. Although Devin White has proven himself as another great defensive leader, losing Lavonte David could be demoralizing for the team. For that reason, expect David to gain a big payday and contract from the Buccaneers over the offseason. 

2. Shaquil Barrett

After yet another dominant season for linebacker Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay has one of their top free agents in high demand around the NFL. Barrett, who had eight sacks during the 2020 regular season, has expressed great interest in garnering a big payday in free agency. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, they cannot afford to spend too much money on a single player. Due to this issue, re-signing Barrett should be a tall task for the team. If the franchise wishes to see him back in 2021, then the Bucs will have to spend a massive portion of its cap space on the highly requested linebacker. 

3. Chris Godwin

Although Mike Evans reeled in the most receptions from Tom Brady in 2020, wide receiver Chris Godwin was another highly coveted target on the Buccaneers squad. In the regular season alone, Godwin caught 65 receptions for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns. Most people recognize Godwin as one of the best slot receivers in all of football. For this reason, he qualifies as the most important free agent on the offensive side of the football for Tampa Bay. Although the team may not have the money to sign Godwin to a long term deal, many people expect Godwin to receive the franchise tag. 

4. Rob Gronkowski

Despite seeing a dropoff in production in the later seasons of his career, Rob Gronkowski absolutely needs to be a priority for Tampa Bay. Even with the decrease in flashy plays from the 31 year-old tight end, Gronkowski still manages to come up big in the most important moments of games. After all, he had arguably the best performance by any wide receiver or tight end in the biggest stage of American sports in Super Bowl LV. 

Although some people believe Gronkowski could re-entertain the possibility of retirement in 2021, in all likelihood he should be returning to the NFL. Considering how dynamic the tight end position can be, many teams should express interest in attracting him out of Tampa Bay. However, Gronkowski has never played a snap of pro football without Brady, and Buccaneers fans should not expect that to change anytime soon. For that reason, expect the two sides to come to an eventual agreement, even if it requires Gronkowski to take a minor pay cut.

5. Antonio Brown

If you were to travel back in time a few years and say Antonio Brown would only be the third best wide receiver on his team, most people would call you out for blasphemy. However, Brown’s career has changed greatly since he left the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even with the popular wide receiver having a comeback season in 2020, his behavioral issues have tampered with his overall career. Brown definitely has what it takes to qualify as a top wide receiver on almost any team around the NFL, but his options in free agency will most likely be few and far between due to the blemishes on his record. Although this stands out as bad news for Brown, it should be taken as good news for the Buccaneers. The team should have an easier time keeping the wide receiver in Tampa Bay without having to spend extra cap space. 

6. Ndamukong Suh

After winning his first Super Bowl title, Ndamukong Suh made it clear that he would be returning to the NFL. The remarks from Suh came after many people proclaimed that the 34 year old defensive tackle would retire over the offseason. However, the monstrosity of a player clearly has other plans, as he wants to enrich his possible Hall of Fame worthy career. Luckily for the Buccaneers, Suh has expressed great interest in returning to Tampa Bay and competing for another title. 

7. Leonard Fournette

After a miserable tenure as a running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Leonard Fournette managed to find a better team in North Florida to compete for. The former 4th overall pick played a fantastic season for the Buccaneers alongside Ronald Jones II, even if his production dropped off from his time in Jacksonville.

Fournette proved to play his best football when the team needed him the most, as he was arguably the best running back in the NFL postseason. However, bringing Fournette back will be a tough test for the Buccaneers, as they may not have the cap space to afford him. It’s imperative to understand that the franchise already has Ronald Jones II at the running back position, so losing Fournette would not qualify as a team-changing loss. In a situation where they lose Fournette, Tampa Bay could always pick up another solid running back in free agency or the NFL Draft. 

8. Ryan Succop

After joining the Buccaneers through free agency last year, kicker Ryan Succop is back on the market. The 2009 “Mr. Irrelevant” (Last picked player in the NFL Draft) proved to be the much needed reliable kicker that the team was looking for. Succop had one of the best seasons in his career, as he nailed 28 field goals on 31 attempts throughout the regular season. The kicker did even better in the postseason, going a perfect 9 for 9 on field goals. With extremely impressive stats, it should be hard for the Buccaneers to deny Succop a chance at returning to Tampa Bay.

The Future in Tampa Bay

When looking at the offseason ahead, the Buccaneers clearly have many tough decisions to make. Although the team would like to bring back all of their key free agents, a few of them will be leaving due to salary cap limitations. However, if the team uses their salary cap correctly, another Super Bowl run should be very manageable. It may sound hard to believe, but the 2021 squad could very well be better than the 2020 squad in Tampa Bay.

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