Twice in two days the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost a veteran free agent to the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota stole away special teams ace Tavierre Thomas on the third day of free agency, signing him to a one-year deal right at the beginning of the new league year. It's a loss that stings but isn't tremendously terrible as the Bucs have a deep enough roster of talent that someone can use the opportunity to step up and prove themselves.
If anything, viewing it that way in addition to Thomas getting a deal with the Vikings is a good thing.
This time, Minnesota dipped into the offensive side of the ball and signed away a player who had more of an impact than Thomas did. On Thursday the Vikings announced that the team had signed offensive tackle Justin Skule away from Tampa Bay, a loss that will be a little harder to fill.
The #Vikings have agreed to terms with T Justin Skule, per source.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) March 13, 2025
Buccaneers lose Justin Skule in free agency, but it's not the end of the world
Skule wasn't a starter, and he was frustrating to watch at times, but he began coming into his own over the course of last season. He came to the Bucs back in 2022 after having spent the first few years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers.
From that standpoint, this is a pretty decent high-upside signing for the Vikings. Skule has spent his entire career either learning in a Kyle Shanahan system or as part of what has proven to be an incredibly successful offense in Tampa Bay.
Things weren't exactly perfect with Skule, as he got eaten alive by Aiden Hutchinson last year when he replaced an injured Luke Goedeke. He didn't fair much better against Nick Bosa a few weeks later but he managed to start settling in and was a key piece of the offense managing to tread water while it deal with various injuries to key players.
That was his role with the Bucs, and now that he's in Minnesota the team will need to try and find a way to replenish that depth.
Jason Licht has taken great pains to upgrade the offensive line over the last few years, pulling it out of the rough patch it was in during the final year of Tom Brady's career. Graham Barton and Ben Bredeson were welcomed additions last year and Goedeke flourished in Tristan Wirfs' old spot after he moved to the other end of the line.
All five starting jobs are filled, which means depth is all the Bucs are in the market for. Not having Skule back means there's work to be done to replace him but Licht has proven he can mine the draft for gold in the past.
That's likely where we'll see the Bucs make a move, and for Skule he gets a chance to learn in yet another fantastic offensive system under Kevin O'Connell.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors