Have the 2020 Buccaneers changed the course of the franchise?
Since 2007, the Buccaneers’ last appearance in the NFL playoffs, they have been scrambling; juggling head coaches, coordinators, and quarterbacks. During all that time, the Bucs have been fortunate enough to have great players.
The issue always has been that the Bucs’ were never able to build around their good players. Whether it be the likes of Josh Freeman, Lavonte David, or Jameis Winston, these players needed more to exceed their personal success for the team itself to win games and work towards making the playoffs.
The Buccaneers achieved failure through poor free agent signings, bad trades, and drafting players that didn’t address team needs. It was this cycle that the Bucs were becoming notorious for.
The Bucs began subscribing to the best player available strategy in the draft under Jason Licht as the GM, and that began to work out in 2017, but it still didn’t address team needs.
More from The Pewter Plank
- Devin White posts cryptic message to Lavonte David on Twitter
- ESPN predicts surprising outcome to Devin White trade saga
- Updated Buccaneers depth chart after signing two players from rookie minicamp
- Todd Bowles sends clear message about Baker Mayfield’s role with Bucs
- The Athletic is wrong about Bucs one ‘must-watch’ game in 2023
In 2019 the Buccaneers finally made a big name hire in Bruce Arians being named head coach. Despite the critics of Arians’ short time with the Bucs, he has had a large role in the 2019 and 2020 drafts and quite possibly changed the direction of this franchise.
At the end of the 19/20 season going into the offseason, nobody expected the Bucs’ to be in their current position. There were still so many uncertainties around the franchise; a lot of those uncertainties remain but have been pushed back by the arrival of Tom Brady.
Here we are a week away from the Super Bowl, and the identity of the Bucs as painted by the media is Tom Brady’s success. The Buccaneers are being viewed as a vessel for Tom Brady to command with very little respect for the rest of what makes this team great.
The true identity of the 2020 Buccaneers is their rising stars on defense, Devin White, Carlton Davis, and Antoine Winfield Jr.; they are all coming into their own in the NFL. They are exciting playmakers that give the future of this franchise hope.
Brady and the signings that followed him helped get the Bucs’ to where they are today. So, I say this year is for the Krewe and the players that have gone through the long cycle of disappointment.
But without this whirlwind year, the front office may have never learned how to build around a player and to be successful. So maybe this 2020 Buccaneers team doesn’t belong to Tampa yet because it is a new brand of Bucs football to be proud of.
The 2020 Buccaneers have come so far from their teams in the past, and Tampa Bay and their fans should rejoice at the precedent being set and the success that should hopefully follow.
Want to write about the Bucs? Apply below!