Tag: bucs news

PODCAST: Bucs Wire talks with Pewter Report about Liam Coen, free agency

Bucs Wire joined Pewter Report on their podcast Wednesday to talk about Tampa Bay’s impending free agency, Bucs draft projects and more:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a lot of questions going forward in free agency for 2024, but there’s still a lot to love about this Bucs team going forward.

Love was the theme on Wednesday for Valentine’s Day, and Bucs Wire editor River Wells sat down with Pewter Report’s Matt Matera to talk about what they loved about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading into this next year. Among praise for Tampa Bay was talk of potential NFL draft prospects, an impending free agency decsions with Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield and how new offensive coordinator Liam Coen could help the Bucs make a run in 2024.

You can check out the whole podcast here below:

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Ranking all 32 teams (including the Bucs) by 2024 cap space

The Bucs have much more cap space right now than they did this time last year. See where they stack up to the rest of the league:

It’s the offseason, and that usually means that all eyes turn to the salary cap as free agency is about to begin.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were severely strapped for cap last time around, but now, they have some of the most cap space in the NFL heading into 2024. This comes after the team has officially taken quarterback Tom Brady off the books, and there will be room to grow that number when some post-June 1 cap casualties come into effect for the Bucs.

See where Tampa Bay stands among the rest of the league with this list below, which measures every NFL team by their current cap space heading into free agency:

New ESPN mock draft projects Duke lineman to Bucs

Duke’s Graham Barton has been one of the most commonly-mocked players to the Bucs, and it comes with good reason.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a big need for interior offensive linemen, and draft pundits around the league seem to be taking notice.

A recent PFF mock draft from Trevor Sikkema had the Bucs taking Duke tackle Graham Barton with the No. 26 pick in the NFL draft this year, and ESPN’s latest mock draft has done the same. Field Yates put out their first post-Super Bowl mock on Wendesday, and he also had Tampa Bay selecting the versatile lineman out of Durham, North Carolina.

Here’s what Yates had to say about Barton:

Barton’s versatility makes him an appealing player to basically every team, as he began his college career as a center and finished it at left tackle, playing both spots at a high level. Many in the scouting world think he’ll settle into a guard role with center flexibility, and this pick would follow a Tampa Bay trend. The Bucs like to draft mobile college tackles and kick them inside, with recent examples including Cody Mauch and Robert Hainsey.

Yates is correct. Mauch was a tackle that the team bumped to guard for his debut season with the Bucs in 2023, and Hainsey was a tackle that ended up moving to center by circumstance after and injury to Ryan Jensen at the beginning of 2022. Given Tampa Bay’s draft history and their current need, Barton is a very reasonable projection for the first round.

Guard and center may be perhaps Tampa Bay’s biggest need, but it isn’t the only one. The Bucs also need another edge rusher to compliment standout rookie Yaya Diaby, so that is also a route the team could go in the NFL draft this April.

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Multiple Bucs players listed in FOX’s top 50 free agents for 2024

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a successful season in 2023, but it’s going to take some effort to bring all of their key players back for next year.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some serious accounting to do this offseason.

The Bucs massively surpassed preseason expectations in 2023, winning nine regular season games, the NFC South and one playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Multiple Bucs players both old and new contributed, but now, quite a few of those contributors could be hitting the open market.

FOX Sports rounded up their top 50 free agents for the 2024 offseason, and four Bucs players appeared on the list — furthermore, three of them were in the top 15. Tampa Bay’s Antoine Winfield Jr. came in at No. 8, wideout Mike Evans at No. 10, quarterback Baker Mayfield at No. 13 and linebacker Lavonte David at No. 43.

The free agency class for the Bucs remains a question mark. David could possibly retire at his age and Mayfield’s contract desires (and whether or not he’ll take less money to stay in Tampa Bay) is relatively unknown to the general public. Evans, too, could demand a lot of money and might get it from another team — the most certain free agent to return to the Bucs from this list is likely Winfield Jr., who could be easily franchise-tagged until the next season.

Tampa Bay could save money on the salary cap by signing either Evans or Mayfield to a long-term extension before the beginning of free agency on a deadline of Feb. 19.

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Ranking the Bucs’ offseason needs for 2024

The offseason has arrived for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there are some spots on the team that need more attention than others in free agency and the draft.

With the offseason in full swing, the Buccaneers will be deep into their roster building ahead of free agency and the draft. With at least six starters pending free agency and upgrades needed at several positions, general manager Jason Licht has his work cut out for him.

Some of Tampa Bay’s offseason priorities will be easier to identify than others. The offensive line’s struggles and the lack of reliable edge rush in 2023 were well documented. Some bigger priorities may not be as apparent as some positions have veteran starters who just need a new calendar in their lockers to get back on track.

The first piece of the puzzle will be Licht’s ability to keep certain pending free agents and willingness to let others go. Then the Bucs will look to the draft to address their long-term needs.

Here are the Bucs’ offseason needs from least concerning to most worrisome:

Baker Mayfield considered one of offseason’s most important players by ESPN

Mayfield’s play in 2023 has earned him the status of a hot commodity around the league in free agency for 2024.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are gearing up in an attempt to win the NFC South for the fourth time in a row. To do that, they’ll need a quarterback, and they almost certainly want that quarterback to be [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag].

Mayfield had a productive year with the Bucs, passing for 28 touchdowns for over 4,000 yards and tossing six more touchdowns in the playoffs. Mayfield’s career faces a resurgence of sorts ever since he began a rough go of things after 2020, and that resurgence makes him one of the NFL’s most important offseason pieces according to ESPN.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano compiled a list of players he believed to be the most important heading into the offseason, and Mayfield was the second player mentioned. Here’s what he had to say about Mayfield’s 2023 campaign and the expectations going into the offseason:

The marriage between Mayfield and the Bucs was a productive one, and Tampa Bay will likely try to bring him back — even if that means a franchise tag. New Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen overlapped with Mayfield toward the tail end of the 2022 season when both were with the Rams. (Remember Baker with the Rams? I know, right?)

The question is, what’s the right deal for Mayfield? He signed a one-year deal worth up to $8.5 million last March and then threw 28 touchdown passes for the NFC South champs. Should he now make Daniel Jones money? Should he make more? How big of a bet will the Buccaneers want to place on the idea that Mayfield’s 2023 was a true renaissance rather than the latest peak in a peaks-and-valleys career?

To begin, it’s unlikely Mayfield is seeing a franchise tag — that will probably go to safety Antoine Winfield Jr., so if Mayfield is a Buccaneer next year, it will likely be on a long-term deal. The Bucs will probably want to avoid paying him Daniel Jones money, too, as Jones’ average of $40 million could be pricey if they want to bring back a Bucs legend like Mike Evans in free agency.

Whether or not this is a true renaissance for Mayfield as Graziano mentioned does remain to be seen. The Bucs and Mayfield are going to find out in 2024, however, and they’d probably like to find out together.

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PFF post-Super Bowl mock has Bucs shore up interior o-line

Interior o-line is likely to be a major point of emphasis for the Bucs in the offseason.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a few needs to address heading into the offseason, but one of the biggest ones is the offensive line.

With the retirement of Ryan Jensen at center, the Bucs are likely to look at a new center to replace the poor play of Robert Hainsey and someone to fill the empty left guard spot that was taken by both Matt Feiler and then Aaron Stinnie in 2023. An improvement to the interior offensive line would be a big boon to Tampa Bay’s run game and overall pass protection, and Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus recognized this — that’s why he has the Bucs selecting Duke offensive tackle Graham Barton in his post-Super Bowl mock draft.

Here is what Sikkema wrote about Barton and his fit in Tampa Bay:

Barton is a Jason Licht type of player with tackle, guard and even center flexibility. He has served as Duke’s starting left tackle over the past two seasons, but his NFL home is likely somewhere on the interior. Luckily, that is exactly what Tampa needs.

Barton is a tough son of a gun with vice grip-like hand strength and enough experience to realistically start in his rookie season.

As Sikkema mentioned, many project Barton to slide in as a guard at the next level instead of as a tackle as he played at Duke. The interior line class appears to be a solid one for 2024, so there are a lot of options general manager Jason Licht and the Bucs could take heading into this draft.

Tampa Bay drafted a tackle and converted him to guard last year with North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch, so this would be a similar move if indeed it were to occur. Mauch had a bit of a rough debut his rookie year, but that’s to be somewhat expected given the tough nature of the position. Should the Bucs draft Barton and find a center elsewhere in either the draft of free agency, the offensive line could look very solid heading into next year.

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Bucs assistant coach David Raih leaves for Washington

Raih came to Tampa Bay last year with former offensive coordinator Dave Canales.

Another member of Tampa Bay’s offensive staff is going elsewhere this offseason.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that Bucs offensive assistant David Raih is leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to join the Washington Commanders as their tight ends coach for 2024. The move reunites Raih with Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, for who he was a wide receivers coach in Arizona.

Raih was a very recent addition to Tampa Bay’s staff. He joined the Bucs in 2023 when offensive coordinator Dave Canales came to Tampa Bay to be a part of his offensive staff as a senior assistant. Canales would leave the Bucs just a year later to be the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, so with that connection gone, Raih joins another one in Kingsbury under new Commanders head coach Dan Quinn.

Raih is one of a number of staff changes to the Bucs this season following Canales’ departure. The offensive staff in Tampa Bay could look a lot different under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who was hired at the beginning of February.

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Tampa Bay’s 10 biggest salary cap hits heading into the 2024 offseason

Tom Brady is now officially off the books, so here’s what Tampa Bay’s cap situation looks like going into the offseason.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heading into the offseason with some big questions in free agency.

The team has a number of free agents to pay, and the good news is that there’s a little more room to make that happen this year. Tampa Bay has the 10th-highest cap space in the league and is now free of the financial burden from quarterback Tom Brady, so they’ll have ample opportunity to try and re-sign studs like wideout Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield and safety Antoine Winfield Jr.

This is subject to change with extensions, re-signings and new additions in the coming months, but as it stands this very moment, here are the 10 biggest salary cap hits for the Bucs heading into the offseason (per Spotrac):

Bucs land middle of the pack in ESPN’s 2024 power rankings

Where do you think the Bucs stack up with the rest of the league for next year?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended 2023 as one of the NFL’s top eight squads. But will they continue that momentum heading into next year?

The Bucs have a few question marks going into the offseason, and ESPN took notice when making their early 2024 power rankings. Tampa Bay came in at 16th in their rankings, exactly in the middle of the NFL pack, and the need for consistency and their pending free agents were listed as a big cause.

Here is what Bucs ESPN writer Jenna Laine said about the Bucs heading into the offseason:

Offensive coordinator Dave Canales took the Panthers’ head-coaching job, and WR Mike Evans and QB Baker Mayfield are set to become unrestricted free agents, so it was imperative that the Bucs found a new offensive coordinator who could build off what Canales installed in Tampa and do so without too much change. Liam Coen brings not only that but also a previous working relationship with Mayfield from when the two were with the Rams. Both are very high on each other, and with Evans, Canales’ system is one he liked.

So now it’s really about dollars and cents in re-signing two of the Bucs’ key offensive players, in addition to safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (their top defensive player last season) and inside linebacker Lavonte David.

Tampa Bay’s free agency will be a big factor in whether or not they’ll be competitive next year. Retain players like Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield, and the team could be successful. Let them go (or perhaps Antoine Winfield Jr.), and there will be some struggle. While it’s a little early for these sorts of things, it the offseason will be important to nail to see if that momentum carries on.

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