It's been a stressful offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and things are unlikely to calm down anytime soon. While the new league year doesn't begin for another month, teams are already starting to move pieces around the board to best position themselves to get what they want when that happens.
As we've seen so far this offseason, what other teams want is what the Buccaneers have.
Liam Coen was one of the most sought after head coaching candidates during this hiring cycle, but Tampa Bay managed to not let him get away. The same can't be said for assistant general manager John Spytek, who was hired away by the Las Vegas Raiders for their top job.
That's a loss that could hurt the Bucs in more than one way. While Jason Licht is the driver of the front office and Mike Greenberg -- who was also nearly poached -- is the salary cap wizard, it was Spytek who helped the Bucs find so much homegrown talent over the last few years.
Without Spytek, the Bucs probably can't navigate around all of the dead money that Tom Brady left when he retired so elegantly. Tampa Bay has prided itself on young players developing and stepping up, which is what Spytek will bring to Vegas, where Brady just so happens to run things.
With all of those connections out west, this might not be the end of the Raiders digging into the Bucs' chest of golden talent.
Raiders are now the Bucs top competition for Chris Godwin in free agency
Finding a way to bring back Liam Coen was the top priority for the Bucs this offseason, but re-signing Chris Godwin isn't far behind. We only saw half a season of what Godwin could do in Coen's offense, and the results were absolutely phenomenal.
Godwin was on pace to be a top receiver in the league before his season-ending injury in October. Despite missing the rest of the year, he's still high on the list of upcoming free agents set to hit the market and the Bucs can now view the Raiders as their main competition for his services.
Brady has already dipped into Tampa Bay's talent pool and used his prior relationship with guys in the building to his benefit. Hiring Spytek is more than just Las Vegas landing a top GM candidate; it's Brady linking back up with someone he had great success with.
That same logic can be easily applied to the Raiders swooning Godwin and stealing him away from the Bucs. Las Vegas might be the only other team in the league able to match the Bucs in terms of offering Godwin familiarity, which then makes money a deciding factor.
Of course, we've seen the Bucs bring guys back on deals that work both ways. Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans returned last year without breaking the bank but on contracts that did right by them and their talent. That's how Tampa Bay does business and it's clear that Godwin is both beloved by everyone in the building and loves being with the Bucs. A deal that pays him well but doesn't screw up the smooth salary cap flow Jason Licht has established could be how this all ends.
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