BY: Mike Rifkin
On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2022 season ended with a 31-14 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. For the Bucs, the 2022 season was one to forget. The only reason they made the playoffs was that the NFC South was the worst division in football. The Bucs were dealt big blows last offseason when Head Coach Bruce Arians retired. Arians’ retirement was not the only blow the offense took; Offensive linemen Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa did not return to the team. Marpet retired, and Cappa went to the Bengals. Center Ryan Jensen did re-sign with the team but did suffer an injury in training camp and was activated for Monday’s game. But the guy that Tom Brady and the Bucs missed the most was Rob Gronkowski. He had always been Brady’s security blanket in New England or Tampa Bay. Rumors swirled that Gronk would return to Tampa, but that never came to fruition. Last year the Bucs were +10 in turnover differential. This year they were a -2.
As the Bucs enter the offseason, they have one question to answer before deciding the trajectory of this team. Is Tom Brady coming back? If that answer is yes, then the Bucs will do everything they can to be a legit Super Bowl contender. If the answer is no, the question will be, where do the Bucs go from here? Is someone like Derek Carr an excellent option to still be on a playoff team, or should they consider starting a rebuild as an organization? The one thing on a rebuild is that this past season, the NFC South was the worst division in the NFL. Bringing Brady back would help with two things, one being you would know who the quarterback in 2023 is, and the other, if Brady were to leave, they’d be charged 35.1 Million dollars in dead cap, although they can spread that out for a couple of years. Restructuring the contracts of Shaq Barrett, Shaq Mason, Chris Godwin, Carlton Davis, Vita Vea, and Ryan Jensen could help the Bucs save nearly 50 million dollars.
Tom Brady was sacked 22 times this past season and twice in the wild-card game against the Cowboys. There was plenty of pressure in Tom Brady’s face all season. Some of that was due to inconsistent offensive line play, and some was Tom holding the ball. Tom had a career-low 52.6 QBR. So was Brady’s decline because the offensive line had injuries, or was it because Tom finally looked his age? The Bucs were last in the league rushing, averaging 76.9 yards per game. Last season they averaged 98.4 yards per game rushing. Was this regression because of the Offensive line or Leonard Fournette, whose numbers were down from last season. The inconsistencies of the offense have cost Byron Leftwich his job. The three years before this, the Bucs were a top-three scoring offense. This year they dropped to 25th.
Tom Brady decides to play another year outside of Tampa, which I expect to happen. What do the Bucs do?
If the Bucs still view themselves as contenders
- Sign Matt Pryor or Justin Pugh to help the offensive line.
- Sign Baker Mayfield. There are better options like Jimmy Garoppolo or Derek Carr, but Mayfield will be cheaper than those guys plus, there’s an advantage of him being younger that he can be the quarterback for a while.
- Re-sign Sean Murphy-Bunting.
- Sign Jadeveon Clowney or Poona Ford. They would replace Akiem Hicks. Ford and Clowney are younger than Hicks and could cost around the same amount of money. Imagine Clowney across from a healthy Shaq Barrett.
The other option the Bucs have is to try and start a rebuild.
- Trade Mike Evans OR Chris Godwin – Both guys are fantastic, but if the Bucs are going to start this over, one of them will have to go, and they can get draft picks in exchange.
- Sign Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield – Two guys are looking for an opportunity. I feel the same if the Bucs want to contend with going after Mayfield. If they want to rebuild, I’ll add Darnold to the conversation because of how well he played for Carolina down the stretch.
- Move on from Lavonte David. David is still one of the best linebackers in the NFL, but if you’re starting a rebuild, do you want to pay much money to a 32-year-old linebacker?
- Move on from Leonard Fournette. Rachaad White stepped up in a big way down the stretch.
BUCS DRAFT PICKS
Rd1 (19) Trenton Simpson, LB – Clemson If the Bucs move on from Lavonte David, Simpson can fill the void. Simpson and Devon White can become a tremendously athletic linebacking duo.
RD2 (50) – Cody Mauch, OL North Dakota State – If 2022 was an indication, the Bucs might want to revamp the interior of their offensive line. Mauch has skills but also needs to develop a bit.
RD3 (82) Julius Brents, CB – Kansas St – The Bucs have two corners set to hit the free agent market. I wrote above that I’d bring back Murphy-Bunting, but the team still needs more depth. Brents brings good size and is an excellent tackler. It could be a fit in Todd Bowles’s scheme.
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