A free agent wide receiver with Hall of Fame talent has been linked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers would be wise to pass though.
Ever since fate dealt the cruel hand to Odell Beckham Jr. of having him tear his ACL during the Los Angeles Rams victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI (but not before he scored a touchdown), it was pretty much a matter of time before all the attention turned to where he would sign for the 2022 NFL season. They were bigger fish to fry so far this season, but now that another trade deadline has come and gone, the attention turns to OBJ. He’s been linked to several teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Buccaneers themselves have some seafood in the fridge awaiting the frying pan.
In no way is this a knock on the skill of OBJ, far from it in fact. The guy has the TALENT to potentially wind up in Canton one day, but whether or not he gets there is a completely different story all together, and frankly, one we do not have time for today. The fact of the matter is, the Bucs have way more problems to address, specifically on offense, and wide receiver is definitely not one of them.
They have course still have Tom Brady, and he is still throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Russell Gage, and an ancient Julio Jones among others. Even if the health and availability of this group has varied from player to player, it is still a talented bunch, and OBJ coming off of a torn ACL certainly would be an addition, but certainly one that is not necessary all things considered. Evans and Godwin are still in the upper echelon of wide receiver pairs on the NFL after all.
You can have all of the receivers in the world, but if the offensive line is not giving Brady time to throw, even if he gets the ball out quicker than anyone else, you can have everyone from Jerry Rice, Don Hutson (look it up), Kevin House to you, me, or our mothers lined up out there and it wouldn’t make a difference.
Honestly, we can go on and on about all of the problems on this Tampa Bay Buccaneers ball club so far in 2022. The main takeaway here is, while Odell Beckham Jr. would be awesome, he is not necessary, or even that practical, and their money should be used, or saved, elsewhere.