Step three: Be resourceful with limited draft capital
The final way for the Bucs to win the draft is to stay smart with the draft capital that they have. There have been talks for weeks that the Buccaneers can trade back and still draft a talented player.
The teams to trade back with would be the Denver Broncos at 10, Cincinnati Bengals at 11, and the Miami Dolphins at 13. Most of the draft projections have the four teams after the Bucs taking offensive players (depending on what the New York Giants do), so this move could be done in such a way that a strong defensive starter is drafted and next year an additional pick will be owned.
The draft scene will likely change a great deal the night of, with the Arizona Cardinals more likely by the day to trade that number one pick the longer that they hold on to quarterback Josh Rosen. When this landscape starts to change is when the Bucs’ front office will have to lean on its discretion.
Should Arizona trade back, that would likely mean that the Bucs would be forced into staying at number five, because the choices would be too great to pass up. With it likely that Kyler Murray, Nick Bosa, and Quinnen Williams will be off the board, the Buccaneers would have their pick of some combination of Josh Allen, Ed Oliver, and Devin White. These players represent the 3 most needed positions on the Bucs’ defense.
If the intention is to draft Oliver or Allen, the Bucs will have to stay at the fifth pick in the draft, as other teams are unlikely to pass up on these players. If the Cardinals hold on to their pick, the Buccaneers would have a better opportunity to trade back with one of the three previously mentioned teams, but it would be likely that their choices would be narrowed down to Montez Sweat or Devin White, who could still be prominent pieces of Bowles’ defense.