Month: September 2023

That said, the Mt. Rushmore NFLer’s turbulent 2022 became part of his football legacy as well. Brady unretired less than six weeks after stepping away, with the moves helping push the Bucs to add more veterans (including the re-signings of Davis and Ryan Jensen) and make more moves to hurt future cap sheets. A spring 2022 restructure with Brady inflated the void-years bill — which would hit when his contract expired — to $35.1MM. When Brady signed his 2021 extension, only $24MM in void-years proration damage was on the bill. The 2022 restructure bumped that total, helping shape the Bucs’ 2023 offseason.

As the saying goes, “flags fly forever,” and the Bucs now have two Lombardi trophies. Last season, Brady — after a strange summer that included an unusual training camp hiatus and Dolphins player-owner rumors that led to a stiff Miami punishment — finished with his lowest yards-per-attempt figure (6.4) since 2002. O-line issues helped key this descent, and a last-place rushing attack translated to Brady throwing an NFL-record 733 passes.

Last season did not detract from Brady’s legacy, as he remains squarely in the conversation for greatest football player ever. In hindsight, however, staying retired would have been the better move. Even before Brady announced his retirement, Bucs teammates viewed him as prepared to leave Tampa. The Raiders looked into Brady as a player, and the future FOX analyst is now moving toward being a part-owner with the AFC West team. All 31 other teams would have to sign up for Brady having an ownership stake and playing for the Raiders, so January’s Cowboys matchup still likely represents the on-field end for the 23-year veteran.

Fournette re-signed to play another season with Brady and collected some cash at an opportune time. Fournette scored $9MM fully guaranteed as part of his three-year, $21MM deal, cashing in before the RB market crashed. The Bucs got out before having to provide another $2MM guarantee this year. While Fournette called this a mutual parting, not being on a roster days before Week 1 does not paint this divorce in such a light.

The former top-five pick struggled during a brutal season for the Bucs’ rushing attack; its 76.9 yards per game ranked well behind the 31st-place team on the ground. Rachaad White ate into Fournette’s workload, and the elder back finished a fourth season below four yards per carry. Fournette, 28, put together a strong 2021 season before a December hamstring injury and quietly amassed 523 receiving yards last season — partially out of necessity due to the Bucs’ run-game mess. The ex-Jaguars draftee made vital contributions to the Bucs’ 2020 team, but “Lombardi Lenny” now finds himself in the supply-and-demand crunch that permeating the running back landscape.

Post-Fournette, the Bucs had been tied to Ezekiel Elliott and were mentioned as interested in adding a veteran. With Kareem Hunt still available, the Bucs have stood down. They have White and ex-Syracuse star-turned-UDFA Sean Tucker in place, with Edmonds supplementing them in sub-packages. This represents a big audition year for White, who is signed through 2025.

Only Paul Gruber made more starts as a Bucs left tackle than Smith, who logged 124 over eight seasons. Smith signed three contracts with the Bucs and made more than $60MM with the team. Last season brought a downward trek for the Brady-Jameis Winston blindside protector. Smith’s 12 penalties led all tackles, and Bowles contemplated benching him. With Jensen on IR, the Bucs are now down to just one Super Bowl O-line starter left — Tristan Wirfs, who is set to take over Smith’s blindside role.

Murphy-Bunting intercepted three passes for the Bucs in the 2020 playoffs, playing a key supporting role in Tampa Bay surging to a title. But Davis and Dean became the priorities among the team’s throng of Day 2 secondary draftees. The slot defender’s exit — for a one-year, $3.5MM Titans accord — led to a crowded competition, one rookie UDFA Christian Izien won.

Succop had stabilized a rocky kicker situation. Going into Succop’s tenure, The Bucs had not featured the same primary kicker in a season since the 2011-12 seasons. Succop put a stop to that and was 9-for-9 during Tampa Bay’s four-game 2020 playoff slate. Succop, who will turn 37 next month, was 31-for-38 last season and went through struggles from long range. His 2-for-7 make rate from 50-plus yards led to the Bucs aiming for a better deep striker. McLaughlin went 9-for-12 from 50-plus last season.

Trades:

• Sent G Shaq Mason, 2023 seventh-round pick to Texans for 2023 sixth-rounder

Tampa Bay was prepared to move on from Mason regardless and found a taker, with Houston providing a clear connection to Mason’s New England days. Texans GM Nick Caserio was in place when the Patriots drafted him (2015) and extended him (2018). Mason’s play was not at the elite level of his Pats days, but during a season in which injuries weakened the Bucs’ O-line, the veteran guard gave them 17 starts. Moving on from Mason was among the many cap maneuvers the Bucs needed to make this offseason, and his exit aligned with a shift away from spending on older vets to align with Brady.

Extensions and restructures:

• WR Russell Gage accepted pay cut, lowering salary from $10MM to $7MM
• Restructured CB Carlton Davis WR Chris Godwin, C Ryan Jensen, DT Vita Vea contracts, creating $44MM in cap space
• Moved void years into T Tristan Wirfs, S Antoine Winfield contracts

While this is Year 6 for the Mike Evans–Chris Godwin pair, the Bucs might be thin behind them. The team had paid close attention to its WR3 role with Brady, whose Antonio Brown push led to one of the most infamous on-field sequences in many years. Brown also made contributions during the 2020 playoffs, catching a Super Bowl touchdown. The Bucs have now let Julio Jones and Scotty Miller walk, and Gage suffered a torn ACL in training camp. Gage did well to parlay a modest Falcons run into a three-year, $30MM contract. The Bucs have two rookies — sixth-rounder Trey Palmer and UDFA Rakim Jarrett — and second-year UDFA Deven Thompkins supplementing Evans and Godwin.

Draft:

• Round 1, No. 19: Calijah Kancey, DT (Pittsburgh) (signed)
• Round 2, No. 48 (from Lions through Packers): Cody Mauch, G (North Dakota State) (signed)
• Round 3, No. 82: Yaya Diaby, DE (Louisville) (signed)
• Round 5, No. 153: SirVocea Dennis, LB (Pittsburgh) (signed)
• Round 5, No. 171 (from Rams): Payne Durham, TE (Purdue) (signed)
• Round 6, No. 181 (from Colts): Josh Hayes, CB (Kansas State) (signed)
• Round 6, No. 191 (from Packers through Rams, Texans and Eagles): Trey Palmer, WR (Nebraska) (signed)
• Round 6, No. 196: Jose Ramirez, OLB (Eastern Michigan) (signed)

The Bucs brought both Will Levis and Hendon Hooker in for “30” visits. Rather than stopping the former’s slide out of Round 1, Tampa Bay went with one of this draft’s cleanest prospects. Kancey made headlines by not taking pre-draft visits, injecting some mystery into his potential landing spot. Kancey’s measurables, 40-yard dash time (4.67 seconds) and alma mater have led to probably unfair comparisons, as Aaron Donald is also a short defensive tackle from Pitt. That comparison sets the bar extraordinarily high, but Kancey did total 14.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons.

As expected, Kancey climbed into Tampa Bay’s starting lineup, where he will flank Vita Vea and Logan Hall. With Gholston and Gaines positioned as rotational D-linemen, the Bucs have an interesting mix here. Vea is one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen; the sixth-year DT makes life easier for those around him. But he quietly totaled a career-high 6.5 sacks last season. His presence will help Kancey assimilate as a rookie, as will the return of Barrett.

For a second straight year, the Bucs are converting a college tackle into an NFL guard. Mauch worked at both left and right tackle at North Dakota State, though he mostly operated on the blind side (37 starts) for the Bison. The Bucs already bailed on making Luke Goedeke a guard, but they will station Mauch next to their new right tackle.

This will make for an inexperienced line protecting Mayfield, who enjoyed a Jack Conklin–Wyatt Teller right-side setup during his best year in Cleveland. But the Bucs certainly needed to make a high-level O-line investment considering what happened last year.

Other:

• Fired OC Byron Leftwich; named Dave Canales as replacement
• Picked up $18.61MM fifth-year option on T Tristan Wirfs
• WR Mike Evans set Week 1 deadline for extension
• LB Devin White requested trade
• Placed C Ryan Jensen on season-ending IR
• Promoted Mike Greenberg, John Spytek to assistant GM posts
• QBs coach Clyde Christensen retired; team dismissed several assistants
• Promoted Thad Lewis to QBs coach; hired George Edwards as OLBs coach, Skip Peete as RBs coach

Advancing deep into the Jaguars’ 2022 HC search, Leftwich was believed to have bowed out of the race. An issue working with GM Trent Baalke affected Leftwich’s interest in landing with the team that drafted him in the 2003 first round. Months later, Bruce Arians‘ surprise exit left Leftwich as the lead offensive voice with the Bucs. While Brady clearly signed off on working with Leftwich alone, the Bucs’ offense tanked in 2022. After ranking second in scoring in 2021, Tampa Bay plummeted to 25th last year. This led to some Brady grumbling about Leftwich, and Bowles canned him at season’s end.

This dismissal, among others, left Arians upset. As the story went, Brady did not force Arians out upon unretiring last year — despite reports of those two butting heads in 2021 — but rather the Super Bowl-winning HC wanted to position Bowles with a good opportunity. Regardless, Bowles fired a host of Arians assistants that had time left on their contracts. It is truly Bowles’ show now. With his HC record at 34-50 thanks largely to helming some woeful Jets teams, the 59-year-old HC has some pressure on him. Leftwich was linked to other jobs but is not on a coaching staff going into this season.

Canales, 42, will take play-calling reins for the first time. Having spent every year of his college and NFL coaching life on a Pete Carroll staff, Canales finally left Seattle as OC interest developed. Canales spent eight years as the Seahawks’ receivers coach, making a noticeable jump from a one-year role as a USC strength coach, and moved into a pass-game coordinator role in 2020. Sliding over to QBs coach in 2022 brought a turning point, with Geno Smith offering one of the more stunning QB seasons in recent NFL history. Canales will ride that Comeback Player of the Year campaign into an OC opportunity.

The Bucs gave Leftwich play-calling duties upon hiring him in 2019, but Arians was there to supervise. With Bowles a defense-oriented HC, Canales will lead the offensive operation this year. Tampa Bay will hope Canales can do for Mayfield what he and Shane Waldron did for Smith last year.

Tampa Bay matches Seattle’s WR arrangement, at least, with Evans-Godwin one of just two receiving tandems (along with Keenan Allen–Mike Williams) that have been in place longer than Tyler Lockett–D.K. Metcalf. This year looks like the end for by far the most successful WR duo in Bucs history. Evans’ Sept. 9 deadline looks likely to come and go without an extension agreement, as his camp has angled for one for multiple years only to see no offer materialize. This deadline came weeks after Licht said the team wants the contract-year standout around on another extension. With a Friday report indicating the 6-foot-5 weapon is, in fact, not in the Bucs’ extension plans, it is safe to wonder when he will be traded.

First-round wideouts have largely not panned out for the Bucs, who could not generate sustained success from Michael Clayton (2004) or Reidel Anthony (1997). Even Tampa’s modern-era second-round wideout history (Arrelious Benn, Dexter Jackson — not the Super Bowl MVP — and Jacquez Green) resulted in misfires. Chosen in Jason Licht‘s second year as GM, Evans brought a seismic course change. His 10,425 receiving yards as a Buccaneer almost doubles second place (Godwin, 5,666) in team history. Evans, 30, is the only NFLer to begin a career with nine straight 1,000-yard seasons. No one else has started with eight.

Attached to a $13MM base salary, Evans will not be too easy for a team to fit on their cap sheet. But if he continues to provide durability, his name seems a certainty to come up in trade rumors — especially if the Bucs perform as oddsmakers suggest. With the receiver tag going over $20MM next year, Evans is probably not a realistic tag candidate ahead of his age-31 season. That said, if the NFC South is as bad as it was last year, the Bucs may spurn trade overtures and hang onto their longtime WR1. Godwin’s injury history would further support Tampa Bay merely accepting a late-round compensatory pick for Evans if/once he walks as a free agent in 2024.

White is also not a realistic tag candidate, with all linebackers grouped together under the tag formula. That would balloon the tag past $21MM next year. The Bears faced this dilemma with Roquan Smith, ultimately trading him to the Ravens for second- and fifth-round picks. The Bucs would probably move White if they received that offer. Impressive stats appear on White’s resume, but he has generated criticism for loafing and freelancing. PFF has never ranked the athletic defender as even a top-60 linebacker. Although the Ravens gave Smith a new ILB-record contract ($20MM per year), the Bucs are not going there with White.

After backing off his trade request — one aimed at securing top-tier ILB dough — White may be auditioning for his next team this season. He likely needs a strong contract year to score an eight-figure-per-year deal, seeing as only one linebacker who hit this year’s crowded market — Tremaine Edmunds — collected more than $11MM AAV. Would the Bucs consider moving White before the deadline? Tepid interest came their way after the trade request surfaced.

Wirfs, on the other hand, is a surefire extension target. The 2020 first-round pick brought an easy fifth-year option decision, becoming one of the NFL’s best tackles — left or right. The Bucs will now put Wirfs in position to do even better on his second contract, shifting him to the left side.

Bowles informed Wirfs of the team’s plans immediately after last season. A good season protecting Mayfield would put Wirfs in line to command a deal north of the one Andrew Thomas recently inked. The Giants made Thomas the NFL’s second-highest-paid tackle, at $23.5MM per year. Wirfs has a greater body of work; will he prove it on the blind side?

Top 10 cap charges for 2023:

1. Mike Evans, WR: $23.69MM
2. Shaquil Barrett, OLB: $21.25MM
3. Devin White, ILB: $11.71MM
4. Chris Godwin, WR: $8.61MM
5. Carlton Davis, CB: $7.48MM
6. Vita Vea, NT: $6.52MM
7. Ryan Jensen, C: $5.93MM
8. Russell Gage, WR: $4.43MM
9. Jamel Dean, CB: $3.81MM
10. Tristan Wirfs, T: $3.71MM

At $76.76MM, the Bucs lead the NFL in 2023 dead money, nipping the Rams ahead of Week 1. That setup reminds of the Falcons’ 2022 financial backdrop, which involved big dead-cap hits from Matt Ryan — a record-setter — and Deion Jones. Atlanta still contended in a terrible division. Tampa Bay will certainly hope to follow suit, though despite many Super Bowl starters still in place, a Bowles-Mayfield duo leading the way does not inspire much confidence.

The 2024 Bucs could look quite different, but the team retaining Dean and David does point to at least fringe contention hopes for the 2023 team. Mayfield will undoubtedly be headed toward the QB2 rung if this year goes as most think it will; can the Bucs salvage the former playoff starter’s career?