Tag: bucs news

WATCH: Bucs GM Jason Licht remembers writer who predicted 2-win season

The Bucs had plenty of doubters before the 2023 season, and GM Jason Licht keeps receipts.

Bury the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at your own peril — because general manager Jason Licht will remember it.

Licht is at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, and he met up with Sports Illustrated writer Conor Orr. When introducing himself, Licht brought up Orr’s preseason predictions for the Bucs — which featured the team having two wins. Not only did Licht remember the prediction, but he told Orr he hung the prediction up on his wall before the beginning of the season.

Orr was obviously a little embarrassed, but both parties handled the interaction in good fun. You can watch the hilarious clip below:

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ESPN tabs Texans tight end as player Buccaneers should sign

Would you want the Bucs to add to their tight end room in 2024?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be focused on re-signing their own players in free agency — that much is clear. But that doesn’t mean they can’t focus on bringing in some new talent, too.

ESPN recently created a list of one free agent each team should consider signing, and writer Aaron Schatz focused in on tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His pick for the Bucs was Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz, who will be a free agent after just one year in Houston.

Here’s what the list had to say about Shultz and his fit with Tampa Bay:

The Buccaneers got 455 yards and four touchdowns out of second-year tight end Cade Otton, but Schultz would expand what they can do at the position. He had 635 yards and five touchdowns for Houston, with a similar receiving DVOA to Otton but more production. Tampa Bay’s other tight end, Ko Kieft, is strictly a blocker, so bringing in Schultz would open things up for more two-tight end sets where both tight ends are receiving threats. But Schultz is also a good run-blocker, with Pro Football Focus giving him a run-blocking grade above 60.0 in five consecutive seasons.

It is true that Schultz would be a good pickup for the Bucs. Tight end Cade Otton has shown some flashes of prowess (particularly in crunch time), but he hasn’t truly come into his own as a dominant tight-end threat. Schultz would automatically be the best-receiving threat in the tight end room and, as mentioned by Schatz, could open up the playbook for some unique sets.

The problem, however, will inevitably be his cost. As it stands, Spotrac has Schultz’s market value at $11.3 million. That’s a steep price for the Bucs, and it would be for a positon that could use some brushing up on but isn’t explicitly a need. That money could likely go toward retaining players like Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and Antoine Winfield Jr. — should the Bucs be able to keep all those players and then sign Schultz, though, it would be an immediate improvement for the team.

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2024 Buccaneers offseason preview: Defensive line

The interior defensive line is among the more stalwart units Tampa Bay has, but it could still benefit from some rotational depth.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have invested heavily in their defensive line over the past several years. With a blend of steady high-end talent and promising up-and-comers, Tampa Bay’s defensive front does not need any wholesale changes this offseason but a tweak here or there is likely.

Defensive line is clearly a priority position for the Bucs front office. In the past two years, they drafted tackles with their first picks in addition to signing Vita Vea to a four-year, $71 million extension in 2022. No position on the team has received a greater injection of young talent and financial investment.

Vea remains the centerpiece of the line, now both physically and financially. Tampa Bay’s largest player now has its largest cap number on the defense at $20.9 million. Vea has certainly earned the distinction as no Buccaneer has more sacks (15) over the last two seasons.

He is now joined by Logan Hall and Calijah Kancey, Tampa Bay’s top picks in each of the last two drafts. Hall, who was taken with the 33rd-overall pick in the 2022 draft, is still finding his identity in the NFL, posting modest stats in his first two seasons: three sacks, 35 total pressures, 34 tackles and seven tackles for a loss. While he has not quite lived up to his draft status, Hall was taken knowing he would be a long-term project. 2024 will be a formative season for him.

Kancey had a very successful rookie season, recording 10 tackles for a loss, four sacks and 34 total pressures, third-most among rookie defensive linemen despite missing four games. Though he is certainly small for an interior lineman, Kancey’s rare burst and refined technique made him a nightmare for pass protectors.

The trio of Vea, Hall and Kancey should form the principal starting line for at least the next two seasons. The steady presence of Vea and the promise of Hall and Kancey will likely preclude any significant additions this offseason.

The line’s depth is another matter. After Vea, Hall and Kancey, the Bucs have just one lineman, Mike Greene, who took defensive snaps in 2023 under contract for 2024. Veterans Greg Gaines, Will Gholston and Pat O’Connor are not guaranteed to return.

Gaines was steady if unremarkable as a rotational nose tackle. Gholston is Tampa Bay’s second-longest tenured player, providing solid play in run support. O’Connor primarily plays on special teams.

Re-signing or replacing any of them is far from impossible. Gholston is firmly in the “sign after the high days of training camp” portion of his career and still could be on the roster by Week 1. O’Connor also appears to be on the “Tampa Bay or bust” track.

In free agency, the Bucs could bolster their nose tackle depth with journeyman Sebastian Joseph-Day or Kansas City’s Derrick Nnadi. Veteran tackles like Shelby Harris or Grover Stewart would be valuable additions to the tackle rotation.

The Bucs probably will not target interior defensive linemen with one of their premium draft picks, but a Day 3 pick or priority undrafted free agent is not out of the question. FAU NT Evan Anderson has the size, strength and violent demeanor to fit in Tampa Bay’s tackle rotation.

Thanks to some long-term planning by the Bucs’ front office, it should be a relatively quiet offseason for the Bucs’ defensive tackles. It should allow Tampa Bay to reload at other positions that are in much greater need of a shakeup.

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Lavonte David says he’s ‘ready to play’ and it could be somewhere other than Tampa Bay

Lavonte David made an appearance on Good Morning Football Thursday and seemed to imply that won’t be retiring this offseason.

Bucs linebacker Lavonte David told WDAE a few days ago that it was either his plan to retire or come back to the Buccaneers. It’s looking more like the latter.

David was on “Good Morning Football” on Thursday, and when asked about his intentions by co-host Jason McCourty, he indicated that retirement isn’t in his immediate future — he wants to suit up.

“I mean, I’m ready to play,” David said on the show. “I still feel like I’ve got a lot left in me — I still wanna give it a shot. I’m gonna let my body tell me when it’s time to give up, but right now, I feel pretty good. I’m confident, especially after the season I just had.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like someone who wants to retire. David did, in fact, have a good year in 2023, racking up 134 combined tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble, so the Bucs will want him back, and it’s clear he wants to come back. Despite that, David said he hasn’t had talks with the Bucs just yet, but that Tampa Bay knows he wants to return.

“Communications haven’t really started up yet, but throughout the season, we all expressed how we feel about one another, and how they’d love me to be back and I would love to be back as well,” David said.

Despite what he said to WDAE, he said on “Good Morning Football” that playing for another team was in fact an option he was considering, saying that “you never know” where free agency could take you.

“I’m not naive to the fact that somebody else could probably come swoop me up,” David said. “I’m definitely open to all options, but I would love to phase out my career in Tampa Bay.”

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NFL salary cap increases to $255.4 million for 2024

The number is about $13 million more than estimates, which could help out the Bucs in retaining some of their numerous free agents.

The official 2024 salary cap number is here — and it’s much bigger than expected.

The NFL announced on Friday that the salary cap is set at $255.4 million dollars, largely due to the repayment of advanced and deferred money from the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 season. This is a pleasant surprise for NFL teams around the league, as it’s a $30 million increase from 2023 and $13 million more than Over the Cap projected to be the salary cap heading into 2024.

This is of course nice for every NFL team, but it’s definitely a bit of a boon for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have numerous free agents like wide receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and linebacker Devin White, and this unexpected jump in salary cap could be the difference in keeping a player that might have departed under previous projections.

As it stands right now, Over the Cap projects the Bucs as now having $45,521,102 dollars in cap space, which could help in their quest to get some players back for 2024. This doesn’t account for incoming incentives for Mayfield and a pay bump for center Robert Hainsey, but money can (and likely will) be freed up with post-June 1 cuts to Russell Gage and Ryan Jensen.

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Lavonte David says he’ll either return to the Bucs or retire for 2024

Whatever happens, don’t expect Lavonte David to wear another uniform — he plans on being a Buccaneer for life.

We may not know whether or not Lavonte David intends to play football in 2024, but one thing appears certain — he won’t put on any other uniform.

David recently spoke with WDAE on their sports radio show, and he was asked point blank if his two options were to come back to the Buccaneers or retire. David not only confirmed this in the interview, but he seemed to lean toward the former in the way he spoke about his upcoming year.

“Yeah you could say that,” David said. “It’s at the point right now in my career, you know, 12 years playing at one organization, a place that I’ve grown to be a man, where I started as a young man and I grew into a man, in the city of Tampa.”

David said that he loves the community in Tampa Bay and the work he’s been able to do for it, and that playing for a single franchise for his whole career is something valuable. And of course, he reiterated that he wants to do that and to retire as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

“Of course I would want to do that, I would want to stay a Buc for the rest of my career as long as I play,” David said. “At the end of the day, I do want to retire a Buc, but it’s just gotta be a mutual thing.”

David’s words (particularly “as long as I play”) seem to indicate that he’s leaning towards staying, but we’ll have to wait and see what his decision is as free agency draws nearer.

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Bucs go wide receiver in new NFL.com mock draft

Would you want the Bucs to draft a receiver in the first round should Mike Evans leave in free agency?

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers make an immediate replacement at wide receiver in the 2024 NFL draft?

NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah released his second mock draft of the offseason ahead of the NFL Combine coming up in March, and he has Tampa Bay doing just that. Jeremiah mocked Texas Longhorns wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Bucs with a replacement for Evans being at the top of his mind with the pick.

Here’s what he had to say about Mitchell and his fit with the Bucs:

The Bucs go with the power forward-like receiver to potentially replace Mike Evans, who is ticketed for free agency. If you want to see what Mitchell is capable of, turn on the tape of the College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington.

Mitchell is indeed a Mike Evans-like height at 6’4″, but he’s much lighter, coming at 196 pounds to Evans’ 225 — as such, the comparison doesn’t seem to match up there. Regardless, Mitchell has been scouted as a crisp route runner with a nose for the football, but notes that he struggles in high traffic and that he has a tough time with physical cornerbacks (another thing that doesn’t match up with Evans’ skillset).

There’s also still a question of whether or not the Bucs would draft a wide receiver in the first round even if Evans did leave. There are far more pressing holes on the offense and defense to address, and the team would likely be okay working with Chris Godwin and Trey Palmer while it either addressed a wideout need in free agency or simply waited until next year.

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Buccaneers hire new passing game coordinator under OC Liam Coen

New Bucs passing game Josh Grizzard previously spent seven years with the Miami Dolphins.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made another hire to their offensive staff under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

The Bucs announced Thursday that they’ve hired Josh Grizzard as their passing game coordinator. Grizzard has been with the Miami Dolphins since 2017, and now he moves a little up north to join Tampa Bay and Coen.

Grizzard has done some different work with Miami in the seven years he has coached there. He’s served as a quality control coach for the offensive for five of those years, and he’s also served as the team’s wide receivers coach from 2020-21. Now, he’ll enter his second NFL job with the Bucs as their passing game coordinator, which will help whoever is quarterback in Tampa Bay for the 2024 season.

The team also announced the known hires of wide receivers coach Bryan McLendon and assistant offensive line coach Brian Piccuci.

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Every draft pick the Buccaneers have in 2024

Here’s every pick the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have as the 2024 draft approaches, including compensatory pick projections:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to bring on a new draft class in 2024 come April, and they’ll have a few needs to address to try and compound off the team’s success in 2023.

While the Bucs only went 9-8 in 2023, but they won their first Wild Card playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles and went toe-to-toe with the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round. The Bucs could certainly use some help on the interior offensive line and on the edge on defense, and this will be a great opportunity to plug holes like that going into 2025.

As it stands, the Bucs are projected to have seven picks in the 2024 NFL draft. See where most of them land, and where the team could get a compensatory pick for one of their 2023 free agents:

Projected market value for top Buccaneers 2024 free agents

Quite a few Bucs could earn some big money this offseason. See just how much four of Tampa Bay’s biggest free agents could make per year after free agency:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some decisions to make in the coming month.

The team has quite a few notable free agents, with players like Mike Evans, Baker Mayfield and Antoine Winfield Jr. being major contributors in the team’s 2023 run that saw them reach the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs. The Bucs will likely want most of their free agents back, but whether or not they are able to do so will depend on what each player wants and what they can make work going forward in 2024 and beyond.

Spotrac estimates the market value per year for the top free agents of the league, and they’ve given four evaluations for the Bucs. Check out the ballpark number for four big Tampa Bay free agents down below: