The Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to go against the wishes of their disgruntled fan base and bring head coach Todd Bowles back in this capacity for another season. Bowles has to be on a short leash after seemingly losing the locker room and 100 percent losing the fan base with a historic collapse in the second half of the 2025 NFL regular season, as the Bucs somehow did not make the playoffs in the bizarrely weak NFC South.
Since Bowles is not developing talent or getting the most out of his defensive players, the Bucs have no choice but to inject this team with star power, and they are going to have to make real moves in free agency, which is something general manager Jason Licht has frustratingly failed to do in recent seasons.
Although the Buccaneers main targets will be edge rushers this spring, they also need help at the inside linebacker position, particularly with the declining legend Lavonte David's future in Tampa Bay entirely up in the air.
It makes a ton of sense for Tampa Bay
No player may make more sense for the Buccaneers than a star defender in the great state of Florida, Jacksonville Jaguars inside 'backer Devin Lloyd. The young man is one of the best cover linebackers in the NFL today, and he proved it in an All Pro 2025 season with five sacks from the position.
According to ESPN reporter Michael DiRocco, who covers the Jags as his beat, Lloyd is likely to hit the free agent waters this year. That is because the Jaguars are not going to be able to afford him. Lloyd's franchise tag price point is at 27.5 million dollars, which they reportedly feel is too much money to spend. And they are also apparently out on spending a ton of money on a long term deal to keep him around.
So that means the 27 year old Utah Utes product is fully expected to be available this offseason, and if any team were to make perfect sense as a landing spot, then it would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That Jacksonville are seemingly going to balk at keeping Lloyd is a huge boost to the Bucs, because there are not many better inside linebacker options, especially for what this defense needs under Todd Bowles, than Devin Lloyd.
Licht and the Bucs are hard to trust in terms of spending in free agency, and with a bit less than 15 million dollars available, the Bucs have to be careful. But Lloyd is a dream scenario in his role for Tampa Bay.