While experts around the NFL have been quick to bury the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason, they’re also pegging the team as one with another big move left to make.
It’s almost comical how the Bucs are being viewed by the national media, as every grainy practice video of Baker Mayfield overthrowing a reciever is being broken down like the Zapruder film. Based solely on how the team is being talked about you’d think the Bucs were not only going to lose every single game this upcoming season but might not even be allowed to compete against other teams for their own safety.
Despite that reputation, the Bucs are an still being tabbed as a team that could land a top remaining free agent.
Buccaneers Rumors: Is Ezekiel Elliott still an option?
In a piece for ESPN listing the top remaining free agents and their best fits, Matt Bowen linked Ezekiel Elliott to the Bucs.
“Yes, the 27-year-old's speed has declined at this stage of his career, and he's not going to give a team much as a receiver. We can see that on the tape. But as a No. 2 in Tampa, Elliott would bring value to the offense in key game situations,” Bowen said.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Zeke linked to the Bucs but it’s strange to hear that this is still a thing. It’s true that Elliott makes a certain amount of sense for the Buccaneers and he could add a boost to a positional group that was one of the worst in the league last season.
One trump card the Bucs have over all other teams is running backs coach Skip Peete. He worked with Elliott in Dallas and helped Zeke and Tony Pollard become the best running back duo in the NFL last season. That means there’s potetniallypotentially a world that exists where Zeke and Rachaad White replicate the success Peete had with the Cowboys and completely turns the Bucs running game around.
Dave Canales also comes from an offense in Seattle that collected running backs like they were rare coins and built a successful offense around it.
Of course the downside is that Elliott might not be that good anymore, and he’ll be joining an offense that isn’t exactly set up for success. The giant question mark at quarterback is an issue and the offensive line is hardly what it was in Dallas; those were two major factors that helped Elliott.
There’s also the financial element, as the Bucs have zero disposal funds and can’t splurge on Elliott when they don’t need to. Tampa Bay signed Chase Edmonds and already have Ke’Shawn Vaughn, and with White expected to be RB1 there isn’t a massive need to add Elliott.