Buccaneers: The impact of Greg Olsen’s exit from Carolina

The Carolina Panther offense has become far less scary almost overnight after it was revealed that Greg Olsen and the Panthers are parting ways.

Last night the Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense experienced a collective sigh of relief as it was revealed that Greg Olsen would no longer be a Carolina Panther. The sure-handed tight end will no longer provide a consistent target for whoever is the quarterback of the Panthers in 2020.

Olsen, who is a three-time Pro-Bowler, has been instrumental in many Buccaneer defeats over the course of his nine years in Carolina.

This is yet another massive loss this offseason for the Panthers who have also lost Luke Kuechly in a very surprising turn of events. The loss of these two veterans makes the two games against Carolina every season far easier to handle for the Buccaneers.

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While Olsen has been unable to play a full season for the last three years due to injury, he was on a stretch from 2014-2016 where he had more than 3,000 yards total and 16 touchdowns.

Greg Olsen has been beyond consistent for the Panthers and has provided Cam Newton with a safety blanket during his healthy stretches. While that role has now shifted away from Cam (due to injury) and Christian McCaffrey has come onto the scene to replace Olsen, the Panthers are bleeding.

This recent move has been just another painful page of a rough story for the Carolina Panthers over the course of the last year. The Panthers believe that their best bet is to move on, but it will be difficult to find a replacement for Olsen.

As a whole, the move on from Greg Olsen bodes well for the Buccaneers. The secondary for the Bucs has taken some massive strides since the start of the 2019 season, but Olsen is still incredibly hard to stop.

The Buccaneers can count themselves as lucky due to the fact that a division rival has lost yet another key piece of their team. With the Panthers in their current depleted state, the NFC South is inching closer to being just a three-way race for the lead.