In one of the more stunning moves of the offseason, Liam Coen decided to pass on taking the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job and will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025. It’s an incredible plot twist that tremendously benefits the Bucs in more ways than one.
On the surface the benefit is obvious: Tampa Bay gets to run things back with one of the best coordinators in the league running the offense. Baker Mayfield gets continuity he’s never had in Tampa Bay, Bucky Irving and Rachaad White get the guy who fixed the run game back, and the Bucs have a potential succession plan in place for 2026.
If Todd Bowles retires or takes a step back after next season, the Bucs essentially have dibs on hiring Coen as head coach. It’s a perfect scenario that is rather incredible to see play out the way it did since it seemed too good to ever be true.
Now that Coen is back, the Bucs can finally shift into offseason mode and start making moves to make a run at a Super Bowl next year.
3 moves the Buccaneers can make next after bringing back Liam Coen
Re-sign Chris Godwin
This one is pretty obvious, and it was already a thing regardless of how the Coen situation played out. Godwin’s season came to an early end back in October when he suffered a dislocated ankle against the Ravens and most of the outrage over him being in the game at the time stemmed from how much it harshed his incredible season.
Godwin was on pace to be one of the top wide receivers in the league before is injury and was absolutely flourishing in Coen’s system. Watching him get carted off the field couldn’t have been the last time we saw him in a Bucs’ uniform and now that Coen is back it ensures what won’t be the case.
Even with an injury cutting his season short, Godwin is still a top free agent on the market this offseason. This isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Bucs, though, as last year Mike Evans was widely viewed as someone who was going to leave but ended up returning on a win-win deal.
That’s what we could see with Godwin. He’s beloved in the building and he loved being in Tampa Bay; it’s not impossible to see him coming back on a deal that doesn’t break the bank but still does right by him. At the very least he’s likely to be franchise tagged and Coen returning now creates more ways Godwin also comes back than ways he leaves.
Splurge on top pass rush talent
A major missing piece on the Bucs’ defense last year was the lack of a consistent pass rush. Too many times there wasn’t enough pressure disrupting opposing quarterbacks and we learned that Calijah Kancey — as fantastic as he is — can only do so much.
Counting on Kancey to provide pass rush all on his own is a losing strategy and also goes against the philosophy of Todd Bowles’ defense. It was apparent that the Bucs needed to find pass rush help this offseason and Coen’s return allows them to focus more clearly on fixing that problem.
Tampa Bay has around $11 million in cap space to play with but can create more by making moves like trading Jamel Dean and restructuring current deals. If that happens, there’s no shortage of veteran pass rushers the team could pursue:
- Khalil Mack
- Haason Reddick
- Josh Sweat
- Matthew Judon
- DeMarcus Lawrence
- Chase Young
There’s also the chance the Bucs make a trade and land someone like Myles Garrett if things go south with him in Cleveland. That’s a long shot, but the point is Tampa Bay has a ton of options when it comes to fixing the pass rush and Coen returning is a clear sign that anyone coming to the Bucs would be joining a Super Bowl contender.
Figure out cornerback depth in free agency
Moving off Jamel Dean is a potential money-saving move the Bucs can make this offseason, and the fact that it’s on the table highlights how much the cornerback situation should be prioritized.
Dean didn’t pan out after signing a big deal to return back in 2023, and he lost his running mate Carlton Davis III last offseason. It’s been a steady decline for Dean, even though he’s shown some flashes of the guy the Bucs need him to be, but overall it feels like an overhaul is needed at the top of the depth chart.
Zyon McCollum stepped up as a potential CB1 moving forward but there’s almost no depth behind him. The Bucs need to look at either free agency or the draft — and likely both — to try and fix the situation.
It’s not a deep free agency pool this offseason, but it’s going to be hard to not see the Bucs making a run at Chavarius Ward, Tre’Davious White, or Jeff Okudah to run with McCollum. The draft also presents options like Benjamin Morrison, Jahdae Barron, and Will Johnson if Tampa Bay wants to use a first round pick on the position.
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