The Buccaneers will begin the 2020 season approximately $90 million under the salary cap. Other than guys named Winston, Barrett, Pierre-Paul, and Perriman, there are some other glaring needs on this team and will need to addressed in the off-season.
The offensive line is need of an overhaul and has been for years.
Starting left tackle Demar Dotson is a free agent and the Bucs will need to decide on wether or not to bring back the 34 year old Dotson.
Dotson has been durable for the Bucs missing only two games the last two seasons and has missed just 24 games in his 10 year career.
The Bucs will also need to look at adding some depth along the line as Earl Watford, Gerald Hawkins, and Josh Wells are all free agents.
At running back, Peyton Barber will be a free agent and it is time to move on from Barber. Barber averaged a paltry 3.1 yards per carry with six touchdowns and caught 16 balls this past season.
Kenyan Drake of Arizona, and Carlos Hyde of Houston would make the most sense for the Bucs if they were not to resign Barber.
Derrick Henry of the The Titans and Melvin Gordon of the Chargers are also free agents, but with the key players the Bucs will need to re-sign these backs may be too expensive.
LeSean McCoy from the Chiefs is a free agent but has been injury prone the last couple of seasons.
Barber has had plenty of opportunities to make an impact in Tampa and has failed to do so. He is averaging 3.6 yards per carry for his career.
Along the defensive line, Beau Allen, Rakeem Nunez-Roaches and Ndamukong Suh are free agents.
There is a chance that the Bucs bring back Beau Allen, but Suh and Nunez-Roaches will probably not be back.
Chris Jones of the Chiefs, DJ Reader of Houston, Javon Hargrave of Pittsburgh and Leonard Willians of the Giants are all possible replacements.
The Bucs have three secondary players that are free agents. Safety Andrew Adams, cornerback Ryan Smith, and safety Darien Stewart.
Adams and Smith could be back, but there are some free agents out there the Bucs may find more attractive. Justin Simmons of Denver, Jimmie Ward of San Francisco, Devin McCourty of New England and Ha Ha Clinton Dix of the Bears will all be looking for work.
At linebacker Carl Nassib, and Sam Acho are free agents. The Bucs should bring Nassib back as he has a nose for getting to the quarterback and was third on the team with six sacks behind Shaq Barrett, and Jason Pierre-Paul.
Backup quarterback is another area that the Bucs will need to look at. There is a good possibility that Blaine Gabbert will return based on the confidence that Bruce Arians has in him, and the fact that they worked together in Arizona.
Gabbert could also decide to go elsewhere as he is an unrestricted free agent.
There are a ton of quarterbacks that will be available but most are not a good fit for the Bucs. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Eli Manning are available, but all are on the downside of their careers, and would want too much money.
Teddy Bridgewater is the one free agent quarterback that would make sense for the Bucs. He is 27, went 5-0 in place of Drew Brees this season as Brees recovered from his thumb injury, and Bridgewater proved that he can make the throws when he has to, and proved to be a good game manager.
No one knows what the Bucs are going to do with Jameis Winston. It is all speculation at this point. Should the bucs move on from Winston, they will need to sign two quarterbacks.
That $90 million dollars which seemed like a lot of money, once you pay the guys you want to bring back like Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Breshad Perriman, that money will go quick.
The Bucs will have some tough decisions to make regarding their free agents and need to spend that money wisely.
