The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't take the massive step back this past season as many thought they would when Tom Brady retired from the league. Not only did the Bucs win the NFC South for the third straight year without Brady, but they managed to win a playoff game in blowout fashion and came close to making it to the NFC Championship Game. Not bad for year one of the post-Brady era.
Bucs fans want to see this team take the next step in 2024 and beyond. What can be done to ensure that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a Super Bowl contender once again?
Get the band back together
The two big names that the Bucs need to retain on offense this offseason are Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, both of whom are slated to hit free agency. This past season saw Mayfield play for his fourth team in just three years but he revamped his career in Tampa, throwing for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 10 picks in 17 games. Evans was as reliable as always, hauling in 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns.
If the Buccaneers want to get back to the big game, they need to ensure that both Evans and Mayfield are back in Tampa in 2024 and beyond. Fortunately, Mayfield says that he wants to be back and that he wants to "get the band back together".
Revamp the OL
It's hard for a team to be a true Super Bowl contender if their offensive line is garbage. Just take Super Bowl LV, for instance. The Bucs were able to dominate the Chiefs in that match-up because of how bad KC's offensive line was (granted, they had injuries, but still). The Bengals also had a bad o-line in the following Super Bowl and Joe Burrow got rocked in that one.
If a team doesn't have a good o-line, it's going to be hard for them to win a title. That's why the Bucs need to revamp their offensive line this offseason and give Baker Mayfield (or whoever the quarterback is) the best possible unit upfront.
Tristan Wirfs is a mainstay at the left tackle spot but every other position on the o-line could use a revamp. The interior o-line needs the most work, especially in trying to find a better option than Cody Mauch at right guard. Mauch was the biggest weakness on the line so that needs to be the priority.
The good news with Tampa's o-line is that this group remained relatively healthy. There wasn't a roulette at different positions so maybe having one full season together could do wonders for them moving forward. Hopefully, the front office brings in some heavy hitters to add to what could be a solid group with some fine-tuning.
Add complimentary back
Rachaad White had a nice sophomore season in the NFL, rushing for 990 yards and six touchdowns while tallying 549 yards and three scores as a pass-catcher. The problem for Tampa is that there wasn't much depth behind White.
Chase Edmonds appeared in 13 games and had 257 scrimmage yards and zero touchdowns. The Bucs need to ensure they get someone more productive behind White this offseason so that this run game can really cook (well, they also need to fix the o-line to help in that department, but we already touched on that).
We've seen in the draft that good running backs can be had in the later rounds (Isiah Pacheco was a seventh-rounder) so the Bucs don't even need to use a high pick to land a complimentary option. Improving the run game is a must this offseason and while the o-line should shoulder some of the blame for why that part of the offense was more miss than hit, adding more weapons can't hurt.
Re-sign Lavonte David
Maybe this entry could be included with getting the band together but Lavonte David deserves his own entry, don't you think? David was a second-round pick by the Bucs back in 2012 out of Nebraska and has spent the entirety of his career in Tampa Bay.
During his NFL career, David has been a tackling machine, racking up at least 100 tackles in all but two of his 12 seasons. This past year saw him record the most tackles (134) since 2015 (147), which was the fourth year of his career.
Simply put -- David makes the Bucs defense better and he hasn't shown signs of slowing down. Having him back for a 13th season could only help the defense and the rest of the team.
For what it's worth, Pro Football Focus projected that David will earn a one-year deal worth $5 million and that's totally doable for the Buccaneers. Bring back David and let him continue to help the defense eat.