The Buccaneers are deadly serious about going all the way this year. As if we needed any more proof, on Saturday Tampa signed free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown to a one-year deal. Brown has been suspended by the NFL for the first eight games this season. When that’s over, he’ll join a loaded Bucs team that has wrestled control of the NFC South away from the Saints despite losing to them Week 1. How big of an impact will Brown’s arrival make, though? Let’s take a look at how Brown could change the race in the division (and conference) in 2020.
Coach Bruce Arians told reporters this offseason that Brown wasn’t a good fit for Tampa’s locker room, even going so far as to call him a diva.
So, what changed?
Did Tom Brady and Tony Robbins (yikes) convince Arians that Brown will behave himself with the Bucs?
More likely, Tampa is admitting that its situation at wide receiver isn’t as solid as they thought.
Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are supposed to be the toughest 1-2 punch at that position in the league. While Evans is eating in this new offense (281 yards, six touchdowns), Godwin has been slower out of the gate. Injuries have already kept him out of three games and he has just 191 yards and one touchdown going into Week 7.
Signing Brown is all about replacing that lost production from Godwin and offering more firepower and depth at one of the modern game’s most important spots. That’s an understatement, as Brown is better than either Evans or Godwin when he’s healthy and not being a complete lunatic – and both of them are top-10 wideouts.
If we knew for certain that Tampa is getting Brown for the entire second half of the season then that would make them the favorite to win not only the division, but the conference as well.
The Buccaneers just crushed the formidable Packers 38-10, which takes care of our projected winner in the NFC North. We can also safely assume that no team in the NFC East is going to make any noise in the postseason. That only leaves one more contender to worry about.
Seattle was the other team that was in the running to sign Brown and it was likely the undefeated Seahawks that Arians and company had in mind when they made the move. Adding Brown helps Tom Brady keep up in the arms race with Russell Wilson, who has the exceptionally underrated Tyler Lockett and another Julio-Jones-in-the-making with D.K. Metcalf. Tampa likely correctly sees Seattle as the only other contender with a legitimate chance to take them down in the NFC-playoffs right now.
There’s no guarantee Brown will be around from Weeks 9-17, though. His off-field behavior the last few years qualifies as alarming to say the least and it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Brown gets into trouble and is suspended once again. That said, the Bucs only signed Brown to a pittance above the league minimum, so it’s a relatively low-risk move from that perspective.
If Brown commits and doesn’t take himself off the field, Tampa will be a tough out in the postseason.
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