Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5 offseason needs
By John Buhler
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to creep closer to playoff contention with a careful series of moves this offseason. Here are their five biggest needs.
The 2016 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 9-7, but failed to reach the NFC Playoffs for yet another season. It was the first year of the Dirk Koetter era in Tampa and the team seems to be heading in the right direction for the first time in a while.
The Buccaneers will have a full slate of seven draft picks to used in the 2017 NFL Draft. They will also have roughly $72,803,361 worth of salary cap space for general manager Jason Licht to make his NFC South football team better this offseason.
Tampa Bay is close, but needs to get better in these five areas this offseason to push ever closer to playoff contention in the NFC.
5. A complementary wide receiver to Mike Evans
The biggest name coming off the Buccaneers’ books this spring will be veteran wide receiver Vincent Jackson. While he was great for years in Tampa Bay and with the San Diego Chargers before that, there is a great chance that the Buccaneers will not re-sign him this offseason.
That means Tampa Bay will need to explore the market for a solid complementary wide receiver to play alongside Mike Evans. Evans entered his prime in his third NFL season out of Texas A&M in 2016. The guy is one of the most physically gifted wide receivers in the NFL. However, he cannot do it alone.
Tampa Bay needs to find the right playmaker to play opposite in Koetter’s Air Coryell attack. Evans is elite and going up and getting the football in the possession receiving game. Maybe Tampa Bay needs to target a vertical threat like a DeSean Jackson or a guy that can do a little bit of everything like a Kenny Stills?
Either way, expect the Buccaneers to be active in the wide receiver market this free agency cycle. It is a very weak wide receivers group, but Tampa Bay is in great space with the salary cap to pay a premium at that position. However, it may be advantageous to use a first or second-round pick on a wideout in the draft. It should be one of the deepest wide receiver drafts in the last few years.