For the most part it feels like the offseason has been a rather successful one for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team managed to land arguably the biggest free agent on the market, a player who happened to also be an in-house candidate.
So much was made about the potential for Chris Godwin to leave and sign elsewhere, and at least one team tried to make that nightmare for Bucs fans a reality. He ended up sticking around, though, and his return was coupled with the signing of Haason Reddick to help fortify an underpforming pass rush.
Last year the Bucs finished 11th in pass rush, which is fine for a team that isn’t looking to win the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay is trying to do that, though, and the situational mistakes the pass rush made maginified how generally underwhelming the defense was as a whole last year.
Jason Licht and Todd Bowles had designs to change that this offseason, and it turns out Reddick was the piece they feel is missing. Apparently not everyone is a fan of the move, something highlighted by an NFL executive going out of their way to defend the move.
Anonymous NFL executive defends Buccaneers’ offseason moves
The Athletic’s Mike Sando talked to various nameless NFL executives around the league and a few of them commented on Tampa Bay’s offseason moves. One specific exec defended the Bucs against what is being seen as a questionable move to bring in Haason Reddick as the team’s way of fixing its pass rush.
“People question the Reddick move, but it looks like a great scheme fit for Todd Bowles. They do a good job identifying rushers, with Calijah Kancey as an example. Keeping Godwin and everyone else, and adding the rusher, was huge for them.”
To be honest, this is the first time I’ve considered the signing of Reddick to be something to question, but there’s a fair amount of tunnel vision and bias involved there. Zooming out a bit, a team putting its eggs in the basket of a guy who wasn’t good last year but has shown flashes in recent seasons is a risk but it’s not a bad gamble to make.
We all expected the Bucs to do something this offseason now that the team has some money to spend but it was never going to be massive. All along Tampa Bay’s best path forward in terms of making additions was to find smart splashes, which is what happened. Reddick is pricey at $14 million for one season, but if the team gets the best version of him then it’ll be looked back at as one of the best steals of the offseason.
It would’ve be the first time either, as taking a risk on Baker Mayfield is still paying off.
Reddick is the biggest addition the Bucs made, but just as this anonymous executive points out it’s not the only big move the team made. Bringing back Chris Godwin is huge, and the signings of Ben Bredeson and Anthony Nelson can’t be overlooked either as key below-the-fold moves.
This is the third straight offseason where the Buccaneers are being challenged for the moves they made. Last year they didn’t do enough and the year before they were supposed to be lost without Tom Brady. Both seasons ended with Tampa Bay successfully defending its NFC South crown, and all signs point to that happening once again despite some questioning how things are going.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors