The NFL offseason is in full swing, as the legal tampering period is coming to an end and the deals that were agreed upon are official. That doesn’t mean things are expected to slow down, though, as there’s plenty of work to be done especially when it comes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Most of the offseason so far as been spent trying to bring guys back, rather than add new players. The Bucs needed to find ways to re-sign Antoine Winfield Jr., Baker Mayfield, and Mike Evans — which they did. Deals were also made to bring back other key free agents like Lavonte David, Chase McLaughlin, and Chase Edmonds.
After taking care of their own guys, the Buccaneers ahve around $10.3 million in cap space to use on outside help. That’s where the attention should turn and there are more than a few intriguing options worth taking a chance on.
Jamal Adams, S
Tampa Bay’s safety room is a strange dichotomy, as on one hand the team has perhaps the best safety in the entire league but the other hand is empty. It’s the same problem the Buccaneers had to deal with last year, as the team was painfully thin at safety and never really found a way to fully fox the problem.
We all know the elite level of play that Antoine Winfield Jr. brings, but outside of him it’s Christian Izien and that’s about it. Zyon McCollum is more of a nickelback than a true safety option and beyond that there’s absolutely no depth.
Jamal Adams was once viewed in the same light as Winfield, but he fell off a bit after being traded to the Seahawks and battling through injuries. He’s a top safety in the league when playing up to the level he was once at but it’s been a while since we’ve seen that.
Could a reunion with Todd Bowles in Tampa Bay be exactly what everyone needs?
Bowles drafted Adams back in 2017 when he was head coach of the New York Jets, so there’s some history there. He wasn’t in charge when the Jets traded Adams to Seattle so there’s no chance for bad blood there, only upside in terms of what a veteran like him can do in Bowles’ system.
In a perfect world, Winfield continues to ascend as the league’s best safety while Adams recaptures the magic he had earlier in his career. The Bucs tried and failed to form a dynamic safety duo using a former Seahawks player last year, but Adams is entirely different — and potentially elite.
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Dalton Risner, OG
If there’s one major area the Buccaneers need to address this offseason, it’s the offensive line. Outside of Tristan Wirfs and perhaps Cody Mauch, everything needs to be re-evaluated and there’s a pretty good argument that the whole line needs to be rebuilt.
Specifically, the interior of the line left a lot to be desired last season. One of the reasons the run game has struggled so for two consecutive years is due to how poorly things have gone inside. Injuries have played a role in this, as the 2022 season was essentially a wash due to how thin things got and Matt Feiler lasted only a few games before needed to be replaced by Aaron Stinnie last season.
Dalton Risner is one of the league’s best guards and could be exactly what the Bucs need to start beefing things up. He’d bring a veteran presence after having spent time with the Broncos and Vikings, and has managed to be consistently solid despite changing coaches a few different times.
Nobody made a better pitch for Risner than the man himself.
Just In case anyone was wondering… I’ve started 73 games over 5 years in the league… missing only 4 games due to injury… earning the starting spot amongst 3 different coaching staffs… I’ve never asked for a bag, simply just a starting guard contract.
— Dalton Risner (@Dalton_Risner66) March 12, 2024
The guard market has gotten pretty expensive, which likely means upgrades will be addressed in the draft. Tampa Bay has some cap space to play with, though, and it doesn’t sound like Risner is going to hold anyone over a barrel in order to get top dollar.
Adding a veteran like Risner to go alongside Wirfs as a leader on that unit could be money well spent.
Kendall Fuller, CB
There are obvious areas the Bucs need to address this offseason, but cornerback sort of falls to the wayside against bigger needs like improving the offensive line. It’s a need that grew even bigger this week when the team traded starter Carlton Davis III to the Detroit Lions for a third round draft pick.
It’s likely that the Tampa Bay uses either that pick or one of the other four it has in the first three rounds to draft a replacement but turning to the free agent market makes sense. The fact that Kendall Fuller is still there makes it an even more intriguing option.
Last year with the Commanders Fuller was a bright spot on an otherwise terrible team. He graded out well, with PFF giving him a 81.6 and ranking him as the third-best cornerback hitting free agency this offseason.
Fuller is a top cornerback, which means he won’t come cheap. We’ve already seen some pricey deals handed out and Tampa Bay moved off Carlton Davis III to shed his $14 million contract. That being said, if the Bucs were to sign Fuller he’d be an instant upgrade at the position and worth the money spent.
His market value is around $13 million per season, and projects almost identically to what the Bucs gave Jamel Dean last season. A fair deal for Fuller could be in the neighborhood of four-year, $54 million which just slightly higher than what Dean got and feels like potentially better value.
Fuller would not only challenge Dean as the team’s top cornerback but would be an upgrade over Davis and a potential mentor to a top young rookie who comes in hungry to learn the ropes.
Jordan Whitehead, S
One name still on the market is a familiar one to those in Tampa Bay. Jordan Whitehead left after the 2021 season to go be a part of what Robert Saleh is building with the Jets, and last year he popped in ways that made Bucs fans miss him.
Right out of the gate he reeled in three interceptions to help New York pull off a Week 1 upset after the Jets had lost Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending injury. He ended up with four interceptions on the season but had a PFF grade of 68.1 and was one of the more quietly reliable safeties in the league.
The Bucs are once again dealing with shallow safety depth, and Whitehead returning could help fill an important role next to Antoine Winfield Jr., someone he’s already familiar playing with.
Whitehead could also be key in helping develop Christian Izien, who was named a starter before Week 1 last season and was the pride of Jason Licht’s crew of undrafted rookies. He still has a lot to learn and having Winfield and Whitehead as his mentors feels like an amazing way to solidify the future of the position in Tampa Bay.
New York could still bring him back, but it’s a deep safety class that could lead to Whitehead’s return also being something that doesn’t break the bank. He’s already proven to be an important part of Todd Bowles defense, and returning after having learned some more wisdom from Saleh only further sweetens the pot.
Stephon Gilmore, CB
Cornerback is a need for the Bucs, but they don’t have to spend big on a younger player to replace Carlton Davis III. All signs point toward the team drafting a guy, potentially in the first round, while free agency can be used to land a veteran to serve as the adult in the room this season.
That’s where Stephon Gilmore enters the equation.
Gilmore was a star for the Bills, helped the Patriots win a Super Bowl, and was a veteran leader on a couple of phenomenal defenses in Dallas. His connection to Dan Quinn could lead him to Washington, but the Bucs would be wise to try and get him to Tampa Bay instead.
His market value is around $11 million and he’s unlikely to get a multi-year deal, which means Jason Licht could work some of his front office magic to sweeten the pot for Gilmore. If he did sign with the Bucs, he’d be someone who might be able to help Jamel Dean tap back into what has made him great in the past as well as mentoring whoever the team drafts.
All of that is in addition to what he’d bring to the field, as he could potentially be the Bucs top cornerback and help fix a secondary that was a liability at times for Todd Bowles.
AJ Dillon, RB
Rather than spend the legal tampering period getting into bidding wars with other teams, the Buccaneers opted to hang back and take care of their own guys first. One of those players was Chase Edmonds, who missed a large chunk of last season due to an injury but is clearly someone the front office believes in.
Just because he’s back doesn’t meant the Bucs are done addressing the running back situation. Tampa Bay’s rushing attack was among the worst in the league last year, despite how electric Rachaad White was. Edmonds projects to be in the mix for the RB2 role but bringing in AJ Dillon and forming a three-headed monster could be what helps pull the run game out of the dark depths it’s been trapped in.
Dillon’s time in Green Bay is unquestionably over after the team signed Josh Jacobs, which is good news for the Bucs. The running back market is settling down and Dillon is still available, which means Tampa Bay might be able to get him at a reasonably discounted price.
What they’d potentially get in him is a complementary back to what both White and Edmonds offer. Dillon isn’t a pass-catching threat like White and is bulkier than Edmonds, which means he could give the Bucs a dynamic option in short yardage situations. That’s a spot the team struggled in last season, but Dillon being able to move the chains or serve as a goal line back might help open things up.
Liam Coen is expected to run a similar system to what he had in Los Angeles with the Rams, which also featured a few different backs in a few different ways. It’s a risk, as Dillon had a down year last season and has battled through injuries, but at the right price he might be worth the gamble.
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