Buccaneers trade back and rebuild offensive line in latest 7-round NFL Mock Draft

Now that the NFL season is over, it's time for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start thinking about ways to make this another successful offseason.

Part of what saved things last year was the team's ability to put together a home run draft class. With tons of dead cap space and hardly any money to spend in free agency, Jason Licht worked his magic at the NFL Draft and landed key players like Calijah Kancey, Yaya Diaby, and Cody Mauch.

He has a knack for nailing the draft, which should have Bucs fans fully confident in his ability to help reload the roster again and inject it with another youth movement.

Latest Buccaneers 7-round NFL Mock Draft

In this mock, we have the Buccaneers trading out of the first round with the New England Patriots who moved up to draft Michael Penix Jr. For their part in that, the Bucs picked up picks No. 34 and No. 68 while shipping out a seventh-rounder alongside the No. 26 pick.

The Bucs maybe could have picked up a fifth round pick -- which they don't have this year -- but if the Patriots really do offer this package Tampa Bay should jump all over. For what it's worth, the deal was submitted and approved by PFF's Mock Draft model.

Round 2, Pick 34: Troy Fautanu, OT/Washington

Re-signing Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans (and giving Antoine Winfield Jr a blank check) are at the top of the Bucs offseason to-do list, but fixing the offensive line is essentially tied with being just as important. We saw this year how far the team can go with how things are now, and everything outside of Tristan Wirfs should be up for debate.

Tampa Bay has some more money to spend in free agency but the Bucs are going to try and get younger this year in an effort to truly improve over the long haul. There's no better way to do that than use a top pick on an offensive lineman who can help anchor things for the next decade alongside Wirfs.

Washington's Troy Fautanu seems like a perfect candidate.

Fautanu has some of the highest upside of any player at his position, up to and including the fact that he could fill two different spots on the Bucs offensive line. He's entering the draft as a tackle but projects even better as a guard prospect, which is exactly what Tampa Bay needs. The interior offensive line was abysmal last season and Fautanu showed high-end ability as a run blocker who can also adequately pass-protect.

Keeping pressure off Baker while also finding ways to improve the run game are key areas the team needs to address, and Fautanu feels like he could help out with both.