Fresh off of a Super Bowl win, Jason Licht and Bruce Arians did not have a lot of time to enjoy it as they will have many decisions to make in the coming weeks on who to re-sign and who to let walk.
The salary cap is projected to be 180 million dollars and could go as high as 185 million, depending on how the revenues shake out from the 2020 season.
Wide Receiver Chris Godwin and linebackers Lavonte David and Shaquil Barrett are all free agents, and a decision needs to be made on who to bring back.
David and Barrett are the most important pieces as there is a lack of good depth at the linebacker position.
The Bucs will probably put the franchise tag on Godwin and work out a contract later in the year.
The Bucs will probably lose either David or Barrett. I don’t see them keeping both. I think they would keep David over Barrett if that scenario presented itself.
David is the longest-tenured Buccaneer and would be wrapping up a Hall of Fame career if he played in any other market but Tampa.
I find it an absolute disgrace how our professional athletes in Tampa do not gather any respect at the national level. It’s downright shameful.
Ndamukong Suh, along with Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski, are also free agents, and decisions need to be made on who to bring back.
Suh and Gronkowski have gone on record saying they’re want to come back to try for another Super Bowl run.
Running back, Leonard Fournette is also a free agent. I don’t think the Bucs bring him back. The Bucs need to get someone that can catch the ball consistently out of the backfield.
There is one guy available who fits that description, and his name is James White.
Since he came into the league in 2014, White has 3,184 receiving yards on 369 catches. White has excellent hands for a running back, catching 74 percent of the passes thrown his way.
Fournette caught 76 percent of the passes thrown his way, but he tends to sulk when not a big part of the game plan. Fournette was almost cut in early December because he was dissatisfied with his playing time.
Ronald Jones, although his pass-catching has improved, catching 28/42 passes thrown his way. He is not a great receiver out of the backfield.
Ke’Shawn Vaughan caught five of ten balls thrown his way.
White, at 29 years of age, still has a few good years left. If Tom Brady wants him here, James White will be a Buccaneer next fall.
Depending on who the Bucs bring back at linebacker, Avery Williamson of Pittsburgh or Denzel Perryman of the LA Chargers would be a good pick-up inside linebacker.
Williamson had 120 tackles in 2018 and 111 tackles in 2020. He missed the 2019 injury with an injury. Williamson would cost about 7.2 million a year, according to Spotrac.com.
If the Bucs don’t bring back Suh, one guy that needs to be on the Buc’s radar is Tennessee defensive linemen Da’Quan Jones.
Jones, 29 years old, had his best season in 2020 with 49 tackles and two sacks. Jones is also very durable as he hasn’t missed a game in three years.
Jones would command around 7.5 Million a year but is five years younger than Suh.
The Bucs need to address some other positions, including depth along the offensive line, linebacker, and defensive line.
Let’s add one more must-sign this off-season. Kicker Ryan. Succop. The Bucs kicking was the best in years, thanks to Succop. Succop conversion was 90 percent on field goals and 91 percent conversion on extra points.
