Last year went much better than expected for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After getting picked to have a top draft pick during the offseason and then trolled for signing Baker Mayfield to follow Tom Brady, Tampa Bay won a third-straight division title and went to the playoffs. It was a truly wild turnaround for the Bucs, one that is still powering them as offseason camps take place.
The Bucs finished up mandatory minicamp last week and won't really get down to business until late next month. In the meantime, analysts and experts are trying to predict what will happen and who will end up winning the NFC South next season.
Albert Breer weighs in on Buccaneers' chances of winning NFC South in 2024
Predictions for who will win the NFC South are all over the place. The arrival of Kirk Cousins in Atlanta has the Falcons on a lot of radars, and the Saints aren't expected to regress next season. Tampa Bay is coming off a third-straight division title, but that hasn't stopped many experts from picking them to finish third in the division this season.
Not everyone thinks that, though.
MMQB's Albert Breer was answering some reader mail recently and dove into why he thnks the Bucs are favorites in the NFC South yet again.
"There’s too much history there, where they won with different quarterbacks, different coaches, different offenses—and they’ve continued to stock the roster as stars have aged off the team over the past couple of years," Breer said. "They’ll have to show they can get by at corner after trading Carlton Davis III, and they’ll need their young pass rushers to take another step. But the other teams in the division are flawed, so I'll take Tampa to make it four in a row.
This doesn't seem to be the prevailing thought, as the Bucs failing to do much more than bring back their own players has been seen as a sign of weakness. Breer, on the other hand, sees the value in re-signing guys like Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, and rightly points out that Tampa Bay is king until someone knocks them off the throne.
Perhaps that could be this year, but it's impossible to deny that the Bucs have some staying power and very well could be among the final teams standing once again this season.