Tag: bucs news

ESPN lists Bucs as best free agent fit for QB Baker Mayfield

Experts and pundits have been impressed with what Mayfield did in Tampa Bay in 2023 and see no reason why that shouldn’t continue.

Baker Mayfield will certainly have outside suitors in free agency, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are likely to try and run it back with the veteran signal-caller come free agency.

Mayfield was on a one-year, $4 million deal with the Bucs in 2023, and after one of the best years of his career, he’s due for a big payday. ESPN’s Matt Bowen released an extensive list of which teams he believes are the best fit for their top free agents, and he has the Bucs as Mayfield’s best fit this free agency.

Here’s what Bowen had to say about Mayfield:

Yeah, here’s another big-name Tampa Bay free agent returning, but it makes sense. Given Mayfield’s production over the second half of last season and some impressive playoff tape (two postseason games with over 300 passing yards), there will be free agent interest for the veteran quarterback. But in this new Tampa Bay system — which will fit his aggressive throwing mentality behind defined play-action concepts and schemed verticals — I think Mayfield could keep posting big numbers.

The Bucs clearly care about Mayfield — in fact, he’s the largest reason the team brought in offensive coordinator Liam Coen to replace Dave Canales, as Coen runs a very similar system and has worked with Coen before. Mayfield put up 28 touchdowns to just 10 picks and threw for over 4,000 yards in Dave Canales’ system, so if Coen can perform at that level or better, it’s possible that Mayfield could see some added production once again in 2024.

Additionally, stability may be something Mayfield is looking for at this point in his career. He played for three teams in 2022, and after enjoying his time with the Bucs in 2023, it’s possible he may take a deal slightly below market value to stay in Tampa Bay.

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Bucs have five players listed in PFF’s top 100 free agents

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had quite a few standouts in 2023, and the rest of the league will keep a close eye on their free agents come March.

Free agents for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to be highly rated across the NFL.

Pro Football Focus released their top 200 free agents on Monday, and five Tampa Bay Buccaneers players not only made the cut, but were featured in the top 75 players. Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was ranked the highest at No. 8, followed by wide receiver Mike Evans (No. 13), linebacker Lavonte David (No. 39), linebacker Devin White (No., 73) and quarterback Baker Mayfield (No. 75).

Here’s what they had to say about Winfield Jr., who is their sixth-highest defensive free agent on the list:

“Winfield can line up in the box, take on receivers in the slot and play as a roaming deep-third free safety, finding success in single-high and two-high coverage shells. The former second-round pick is a difference-maker on the backend, and his remarkable versatility carries value at a position that appreciates it more than perhaps any other.”

Winfield Jr. is a likely candidate for a franchise tag coming up, so it’s likely he remains with the Bucs. Mayfield, too, has strong links to Tampa Bay, and although he’ll likely test free agency, a stable team after his hectic 2022 and stability with new offensive coordinator Liam Coen are likely to woo him back to the Bucs. Unless a very small deal could be reached, White is the most likely of the group to leave, as he’s vastly underplayed his worth the past few years.

Evans and David are somewhat more complicated. While it’s hard to imagine David playing anywhere else if he does intend to play in 2024, he could still end up retiring. Evans will likely favor Tampa Bay in negotiations in free agency, but a team that could offer him above market value may be enough to lure him away if the Bucs don’t match of get in the ballpark of a big offer.

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Bucs add Alabama cornerback in new Round 1 mock draft

The Bucs may have bigger needs, but an addition at corner given 2023’s frequent injuries at the position may not be a bad idea.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need help in quite a few places, but could they add to their secondary in the first round of the NFL draft?

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar put out his latest Round 1 mock draft, and he has the Bucs doing just that. The mock has Tampa Bay taking Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry with the No. 26 pick. That potential pick would put him in the same secondary with cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean.

And while Dean and Davis have been excellent players in the past, both have suffered injuries. Their 2023 in particular was rough — one of the two corners was injured at various times of the season, giving CB Zyon McCollum more playing time than he was expecting. McKinstry could not only alleviate that burden, but could also open up the opportunity to trade one of those corners away to free up cap space.

McKinstry is an athletic corner who has some good ball-playing skills and can play both man and zone. While he’s been scouted as competitive at the catch point, he’s also been noted to struggle with bigger wide receivers and often chases the football instead of positioning himself to meet it.

While corner is a need, the interior offensive line and edge rusher are more pressing as it stands before free agency. Regardless, Jason Licht could go with who he believes is the best player available, and there’s a chance he thinks it’s McKinstry.

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REPORT: Bucs and Mike Evans ‘far apart’ on new deal

Free agency officially opens on March 11, and it looks like wide receiver Mike Evans will officially wait until then to weigh his options.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have somewhat of a soft deadline for both Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield’s contract extensions on Monday, but at least one of those players won’t be getting a deal done, it would seem.

Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweeted on Monday that Evans and the Bucs are “far apart” on a new deal. Should Evans and the Bucs have reached one on Monday, his $7.4 million in dead cap could have been pushed forward, but barring a restructure after a new deal, the Bucs are set to take all of it in 2024.

While this may spell doom and gloom for some Tampa Bay fans, Evans hitting the market was always to be expected. Evans would be a fool not to see where other teams evaluate him, and teams like the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Chiefs could potentially be suitors for him on the open market. The Bucs are welcome to match or get near the offers he is expected to get, but it will be on Tampa Bay to decided whether or not he’s worth what his market value will be — and it will likely be quite high.

Free agency officially begins on March 11 during what is called the “legal tampering period.” Evans is like to get some offers at that time, and the Bucs will hope they can match them — until then, Bucs fans hold their breath.

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Franchise tag period for NFL begins Tuesday

Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is a likely candidate to be put on the tag in the coming weeks.

The NFL’s franchise tag period is opening up on Tuesday, Feb. 20, and there’s a good chance the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will use it on one of their star players.

Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was named a First-Team All-Pro for the 2023 season and there’s no doubt that Tampa Bay wants him back — that’s where the franchise tag comes in. Because deals for quarterback Baker Mayfield and wideout Mike Evans are potentially on the way, Winfield Jr. may have to wait a year before a full extension and play on the tag for 2024.

The franchise tag is an option that every team in the NFL has to give out to one of their players during any given season. The tag ensures that a player hitting free agency will return to the team before free agency begins, giving them a one-year salary that isn’t less than either the average of the top-five salaries at that player’s position or a salary 120% larger than what that player made last year  — whichever of those numbers happens to be higher. CBS Sports projects this number to be $16,258,000 for the upcoming season.

Should Winfield Jr. be franchised tagged, he’d play with the Bucs for one more season in 2024 and then would have to delay his contract negotiations to 2025. While Winfield Jr. appears to enjoy his time in Tampa, some players don’t take kindly to the tag due to the insecurity it brings for coming seasons. Bucs fans will find out how he’ll take it if he is even tagged at all in the next few weeks — the deadline for tags ends on March 5.

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NFL.com ranks Bucs 2023 draft class in middle of pack

The ranking seems a little low given how frequently Tampa Bay’s draft class contributed in 2023.

Tampa Bay’s rookie draft class was a big part of its 2023 team, but despite that, some aren’t convinced it was one of the better ones in the league.

NFL.com recently ranked every rookie draft class in 2023, and the Bucs came in at a staggering 16th of 32 teams. Writers Eric Edholm and Chad Reuter mostly gave praise to the Bucs’ class, particularly on defense — they highlighted the good work of both Calijah Kancey and Yaya Diaby and wrote that offensive prospects like Cody Mauch and Trey Palmer.

16th seems a little low for how much Tampa Bay’s rookie class contributed. As the article itself mentions, 15 Bucs rookies appeared in at least one game throughout the season and only one player in its draft class, edge rusher Jose Ramirez, didn’t get any game snaps. Diaby had a spectacular 7.5-sack season and Calijah Kancey was good enough to win an NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month award.

All these players will be entering Year 2 next year, and should even most of them hit a stride and break out into solid contributors once again, the Bucs could get even better in 2024.

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Bucs make two new offensive hires under new OC Liam Coen

Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen is beginning to build his staff in Tampa Bay for 2023.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive staff was almost entirely gutted after the departure of Dave Canales to the Carolina Panthers, but new offensive coordinator Liam Coen is putting his own staff together quickly.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter reported Saturday that the Bucs are making two new hires to their offensive staff. Both new hires come out of the Southeastern Conference in college football, which makes sense as Coen himself is coming to the team from the Kentucky Wildcats.

The first hire comes from Kentucky itself. The Bucs are set to hire Wildcats senior analyst Brian Piccuci as the team’s assistant offensive line coach. Piccuci will work with new offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, who Coen worked with under Sean McVay when both were coaches for the Los Angeles Rams.

Additionally, the Bucs also hired Georgia Bulldogs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon to fill the same role with Tampa Bay. McClendon has worked with and helped develop a number of wide-receiving talents at both Georgia and Oregon since 2020, and he’s a coach that Schefter rightfully referred to as “highly regarded.” He’ll certainly be excited to work with talents like Chris Godwin, Trey Palmer and (hopefully) Mike Evans.

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2024 NFL mock draft: QBs go off the board fast, tackles galore

See who the Bucs select in Bucs Wire’s first full first round mock draft of 2024:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the divisional round of the playoffs in 2024, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t holes to fill.

The Bucs have some glaring needs on the roster, including at interior offensive line and tackle. There are a lot of talented prospects coming out of college this year (as there always is), so general manager Jason Licht has a few options for how he could improve the Bucs in 2023 and make it back to the playoffs.

This is Bucs Wire’s first mock draft for the entire first round, with no trades this time around. See who we have the Bucs selecting down below:

ESPN ranks both Bucs’ Super Bowl teams in all-time list

ESPN ranked every championship winner of the Super Bowl era, and both Bucs teams placed fairly high on the list.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the lowest win-loss percentage in NFL history. Despite this, Tampa Bay has two Super Bowls to its name.

The Bucs put together two of the most impressive Super Bowl victories in recent history − both in pretty lopsided fashion. How does each Tampa Bay championship team rank among all 58 Super Bowl winners? Here’s what ESPN writer Aaron Schatz thinks:

2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers had nearly all the pieces to call themselves a championship-caliber team. They just needed a quarterback.

So when the Bucs made a splash in free agency and won over QB Tom Brady, they found the final missing piece of the puzzle. Brady hoisted Tampa Bay to its first playoff appearance since 2007, and eventually led the way in a 31-9 Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Schatz ranked the Bucs’ 2020 Super Bowl team as the 20th-best championship team of all time. Here’s what he said about the team:

“The Buccaneers were fourth in total DVOA for 2020 although they would have been No. 1 without a single game, a 38-3 stomping at the hands of the Saints in Week 9. Overall, the Bucs were third on offense and fifth on defense.”

Schatz made sure to give credit to the massive turnaround Tampa Bay made after their bye week. The Bucs were 7-5 and won the final four games of the regular season, and then, of course, swept the playoffs.

2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Everything finally came together during the Bucs’ first Super Bowl-winning team. After letting go of HC Tony Dungy in the offseason and trading a first-round pick for former Raiders HC Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay found its footing in the playoffs. The Bucs arguably had one of the best defenses of all time and earned the No. 14 spot amongst championship teams by ESPN.

Here’s what Schatz wrote about the 2002 Bucs:

“This team ranked only 22nd in offensive DVOA. But the Bucs had the best pass defense DVOA ever put up in a full nonstrike season, and the third-best total defense in DVOA history behind the 1991 Eagles and 1986 Bears. Both sides of the ball worked together well once the Bucs got to the postseason, as they won by an average margin of 23.0 points per game.”

Tampa Bay cleared through the NFC, winning 31-6 against the 49ers and 27-10 against the Eagles. Led by 2002 Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Brooks, the Bucs stomped the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in the Super Bowl.

Tampa Bay defensive back Dwight Smith logged two pick-sixes off Rich Gannon, and Bucs WR Keenan McCardell caught two touchdown passes from QB Brad Johnson.

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Bucs finish top 15 in NFL.com’s final 2023 power rankings

Where do you think the Bucs rank among the NFL’s teams after the 2023 season?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a very successful season relative to expectations. They finished top eight in the league in 2023 after a playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles, but NFL.com’s latest power rankings have them ranked a little lower.

Writer Eric Edholm wrote up his power rankings for the end of the 2023 season after the Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up the year with a Super Bowl win. He had the Bucs ranked at 13th overall, one rank above the Pittsburgh Steelers and one rank below the Los Angeles Rams.

Here’s what he had to say about Tampa Bay:

The Buccaneers overachieved in 2023, fueled by a bounce-back season from Baker Mayfield, an opportunistic defense and, let’s be honest, their presence in a less-than-tough division. I don’t mean to negate what they did — Tampa almost knocked off the Lions at Detroit in the Divisional Round. But the Bucs scraped just to get in the postseason. And now they have to restart a bit, with OC Dave Canales off to Carolina, and his replacement, Liam Coen, lying in wait until the Mayfield decision is figured out. Mayfield is set to be a free agent, and though it would be hard to imagine any other team wanting him more than Tampa Bay, the two sides must figure out the money part and leave enough left over for Mike Evans and others. The NFC South remains in flux, we suspect, but the Bucs once again could have to be a team that grinds its gears hard to find success.

A lot of this is based on hypotheticals, and there are some things it doesn’t quite take into account. For instance, Liam Coen runs a very similar offense to Dave Canales so there should be some continuity there — subsequently, while nothing is figured out yet, it would be a shock if Mayfield didn’t return to Tampa Bay at this point. Should those dominoes fall and the Bucs do well to retain their own weapons in free agency, there’s no reason to believe the team could get worst next year in 2024.

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