4 Edge Rushers the Buccaneers should target after Haason Reddick trade
The Buccaneers may want to start getting busy at one of their most important positions of need.
By Rob Leeds
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a pretty good roster right now that should be able to compete in 2024, but there is a clear cap if the team can't address its biggest holes. Plenty of work was done early in free agency to secure key pieces like Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, but there’s more that Jason Licht needs to accomplish before we can start truly thinking about any sort of boat parades.
One of the biggest remaining needs is at edge, especially after the departure of Shaquil Barrett. YaYa Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Anthony Nelson are a solid trio to start with, but the truth of the matter is that a veteran/proven option still makes a lot of sense in that group.
Now that Haason Reddick (a popular trade target for the Bucs) is off the table, here is where the Bucs should focus their attention.
4 Edge Rushers Buccaneers need to target after Haason Reddick trade
Carl Lawson, New York Jets
The first thing that Bucs fans have to understand about this position is that it is going to be very hard to find an exciting option at this point in free agency. The top guys are gone. There aren't many guarenteed starters left on the market. However, there are veterans that you can bring in on cheap deals to compete for starting gigs. That leaves Tampa as an attractive place for players to look.
The best pass rusher on the Bucs was a rookie last season. Outside of Diaby, the Bucs have little in the form of a guarenteed depth chart. That means that veterans can and should see this as one of the perfect places to sign on a cheap deal with a team that is sure to give plenty of playing time under one of the best defensive head coaches in football.
Lawson might not be the most exciting guy but he does bring experience to the table and should be attainable for Tampa. That would then leave Lawson and Diaby as the top two guys to start the season with the opportunity to also land a rookie in the draft that can work his way into the rotation alongside JTS and Nelson.
This is an extremely realistic option for Tampa and it also protects from a very real future where the draft doesn't offer a clear pass rusher until one of the middle rounds, and banking on that player to change the room is a very dangerous game.