The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New York Jets 24-16 in the preseason opener.
The game was overwhelmingly positive, with plenty of players taking advantage of their opportunity and making strong cases for roster spots.
But despite the victory, and a laundry list of impressive performances, the game also exposed two key weaknesses that must be addressed before the regular season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers must make 2 key roster moves before regular season
Bring in competition for Riley Dixon
Tampa Bay’s special teams unit was a weakness throughout the game, and Riley Dixon played a role in that.
He had a 43-yard punt that was returned for 18 yards and set the Jets up in Tampa Bay territory. His 44.7-yard punt average in 2025 ranked in the bottom three among all punters who played the full season.
The Buccaneers exercised their team option earlier this offseason to keep him in Tampa Bay at a $3 million price tag, despite coming off a disappointing year.
The Buccaneers have one of the NFL’s best kickers in Chase McLaughlin, and now they need to find a punter of the same caliber.
Special teams can’t be allowed to hold this team back for another season, and the Bucs would be wise to bring in some competition for Dixon and see if there’s another punter out there who could produce better results.
Move on from Chris Braswell
Braswell was Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in 2024, but he has failed to have the impact they were hoping for, totalling just 2.5 sacks through two seasons.
Braswell played the entire first half, and didn’t even get on the stat sheet. He didn’t record a single tackle. Meanwhile, undrafted rookie Jack Pryburn recorded two sacks, including a crucial one late in the fourth quarter to stall a potential game-tying drive by the Jets.
Pryburn showed more in those two plays than Braswell did throughout the entire game, which is a tough break for a player already on the roster bubble.
With roster spots at a premium, Tampa Bay can’t afford to keep waiting for Braswell to become the player they expected him to be.
The Bucs need to cut their losses, as Braswell isn’t even a top-five pass rusher on this roster. He hasn’t done enough with his opportunities to establish himself as an impact player, and Tampa Bay has several guys with more juice who could be worth a flier in his place in the rotation.
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