Rumors of the Buccaneers’ demise were greatly exaggerated. That was the story of the 2024 NFL season as Tampa Bay ran it back in the NFC South despite losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales and wide receivers coach Brad Idzik to the Panthers.
What we saw was nothing short of remarkable from this team. Proving Baker Mayfield wasn’t a flue, Liam Coen stepped in flawlessly into the OC role and kept this team surging on the back of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and the breakout rushing performance of rookie Bucky Irving.
This was a team that managed to pivot from winning the Super Bowl with Tom Brady to becoming a staple of the playoffs. So how did they do overall when it comes to the offseason?
Coaching staff
For the second straight year the Bucs’ offensive coordinator was pilfered with Coen taking the job as head coach of the Jaguars. Along with him went a portion of his staff, meaning this is the third consecutive year with an offensive staff rework.
Normally that would be a recipe for failure, but this team has such a solid foundation that they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. Josh Grizzard enters his first year as OC after serving as passing game coordinator in 2024, but brings the familiarity of keeping the same running back and receivers coach. That should be enough to pay dividends.
The limiting factor on this team is Todd Bowles. He is a solid, yet unremarkable coach still riding the high of the Super Bowl win. This isn’t a case where the Bucs win because or in spit of him, it’s more that Bowles is … just kind of there. To his credit he’s a great defensive organizer, but the team doesn’t have an offensive identity forged by its coach.
That could open up the door for this endless stream of offensive coach changes to catch up with the team, but they’ve earned some trust for one more year.
Grade: B
Free agency
The Bucs made some solid moves in free agency to strengthen their depth, but really this is all about two major moves. Being able to work a deal to keep WR Chris Godwin might have been one of the biggest boons any team saw this period.
Godwin was the top-rated receiver in the class, and it felt like a foregone conclusion that he’d leave for either bigger money, or the chance to play for the Super Bowl contender. Instead he re-upped in Tampa Bay on a three-year, $66M deal that neither breaks the bank for the organization, nor short changes Godwin. There’s a definite element of hometown discount here, especially taking a shorter team deal, but this was still mutually beneficial.
Then the team made its best new acquisition with the signing of EDGE Haason Reddick. I don’t really know how Reddick keeps getting underrated, but it’s a perennial event at this point. There were a lot of thoughts that he might return to the Eagles, but instead got a deal where he can be the feature rusher on a team in need of pressure off the edge.
Vita Vea is an absolute force in the middle, it’s just been a shame there hasn’t been a high-tier edge rusher to take advantage of the pressure he creates. That changes now with Reddick, and it’s going to be fun to watch.
Overall this team didn’t make a lot of moves, but they didn’t need to either. Keeping Godwin and adding Reddick were big.
Grade: A
NFL Draft
It’s really interesting to see two teams in the NFC South with similar defensive needs both shake things up in the first round. Like the Panthers earlier, the Bucs stunned people by picking Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka with the No. 19 pick instead of landing an EDGE or bolstering their secondary.
That move was about keeping the shelves stocked for the future, knowing that 31-year-old Mike Evans can’t keep going forever. It prioritizes this team’s offensive plan of overloading the field with weapons and trusting Baker Mayfield to make plays. Initially I didn’t love the pick, but the more I’ve had time to think on it, the more I like it.
I really liked the second round pick of Benjamin Morrison, who is sneaky good. He fell in the draft due to injury at Notre Dame, but he’ll bounce back and could easily become a plus-level starter on this team.
The other pick worth giving props to was another WR, Tez Johnson. Tremendous value in the seventh round, and brings another level to the receiving corps.
Overall this was a very good class, even if it didn’t dress the team’s most immediate needs.
Grade: B+
Final grade
The Buccaneers were good in 2024, and they’re staying good. Nobody is ready to confuse Tampa Bay with a Super Bowl contender, not yet — but there’s a lot to like here. If this team can hold up offensively in spite of its changes we’ll see them back in the playoffs and easily winning the NFC South.
Final offseason grade: A-
