TAMPA, Fla. — Now that the 2023-24 season is in the history books for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all eyes will now turn to some big questions the team faces as they turn their attention to free agency and the NFL Draft.
Here's a look at some of the key questions facing Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht.
Quarterback
It's the most important and expensive position on the field in the modern-day NFL. The Bucs entered the post-Tom Brady era with a quarterback room that wasn't up to the task, and the team decided to bring in journeyman quarterback Baker Mayfield.
All the former number one overall pick did was throw for more than 4,000 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while piloting a team many Bucs fans didn't expect much from all the way to the playoffs.
Mayfield came in on a cheap, free agent contract. But with a solid season under his belt, re-signing him will cost the Bucs a lot of cap space. Luckily for the Bucs, there's plenty of cap space, even without any cuts that will come later.
Still, Mayfield has come and gone through multiple franchises and has yet to stick and have consecutive solid seasons. Tampa Bay has to decide if they are ready to pay Mayfield a lot more money or look to free agency or the draft for another new quarterback for the franchise.
Mike Evans
Tampa Bay's superstar receiver Mike Evans has not played for any other team than the Bucs. He's eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards every season he's played and has been a fixture/fan favorite of the franchise throughout his entire career.
This year, the final season of his contract, saw Evans catch 79 passes for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns. Evans had sought a new contract with the Bucs before the season, but the two sides couldn't come to an agreement.
Losing Evans would be a huge blow to the Buccaneers' wide receiver corps, even with the ascension of Chris Godwin.
If Tampa Bay decides to move on from Evans, there will be 31 other teams ready to pounce on the future Hall of Famer as he hits free agency.
Linebacker
Devin White and Lavonte David both are entering free agency and could leave a large hole to fill in the middle of Tampa Bay's defense.
David will be 34 years old next season but still led the Bucs in tackles this season with 134 combined tackles (86 solos). White, who will be 26 next season, finished the season with 83 total tackles (49 solo), along with nine quarterback hits.
White will command a much larger contract than David. That leaves the Bucs with the question of how much are they willing to pay White?
Determining the answer to that question will start the process of either a retooling or a complete rebuild of the Bucs defense.
Free Safety
Antoine Winfield, Jr. has been one of the best and most consistent safeties in the NFL since he started his career with the Bucs. Tampa Bay will likely re-sign the young safety to keep one of the team's best players on the roster.
It will cost the Bucs though as the largest safety contract in the NFL is for the Chargers' Derwin James. He has an average salary of $19 million per year with $42 million guaranteed on his multi-year contract.
Coaching
While head coach Todd Bowles was given a new 5-year, contract by the BUccaneers before the 2022 season, his teams have underperformed, despite making the playoffs. The four-straight playoff berths haven't amounted to much outside of the Super Bowl run with Bruce Arians as the head coach.
The Bucs' running game has consistently been one of the worst in football over the past few seasons, including ranking dead last in yards gained this season.
A complete overhaul of the coaching staff isn't likely, especially with the success offensive coordinator Dave Canales had with Baker Mayfield.
But, the Glazer family likes to celebrate championships and as constituted, the Bucs don't look like a championship contender.
