2025 NFL Offseason Primer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Projected Cap Space: $5.3 million

Draft Picks: 6

• 1st (No. 19)
• 2nd (No. 53)
• 3rd (No. 84)
• 4th (No. 120)
• 5th (No. 158)
• 7th (No. 237)

Notable Free Agents: 

Top Three Needs

1 – Edge Rusher

Expect there to be a lot of focus on defense in Tampa Bay this offseason as they return 90 percent of last year’s top-five offense, assuming they’re able to re-sign Godwin which feels quite achievable. The defense was 16th in scoring and 18th in yards, lagging significantly behind the offense. All three levels need help, but it would not be surprising to see the Buccaneers start up front. 

The Bucs are stout on the interior and their leading sack producers were DTs Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey with a combined 14.5. None of their edge rushers topped 4.5 sacks, however, and Tampa Bay is set to lose 1,100 combined snaps between Nelson and Tryon-Shoyinka. One of those guys could be back in a depth role but Tampa Bay needs more juice overall in the pass rush. Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles likes to blitz to create pressure but that puts a lot of pressure on the secondary. In years like the past two where the secondary has had issues, the Bucs’ defense has been hurt by not having a changeup or the ability to get pressure without thee blitz. 

2 – Cornerback

All three of Tampa Bay’s primary starting cornerbacks are still under contract in 2025 (as well as both starting safeties for that matter). But the defense was 29th in passing yards allowed last year. Even if the Buccaneers thought a better pass rush would help the secondary, they need to start looking ahead too. One starting corner, Zyon McCollum, is going into a contract year. The other, Jamel Dean, is a potential cap cut this year with $13 million in compensation, none of it guaranteed, as he enters his age-29 season. 

3 – Linebacker

This was David’s 13th year with the Buccaneers, and while the 35-year-old might have slowed down a little bit compared to his prime, he was still incredibly productive with 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and six pass deflections, plus 122 total tackles.

Still, David won’t play forever, and this season exposed the lack of a viable running mate, let alone a successor. Tampa Bay could bring back Britt, who’s solid against the run, but opponents tended to pick on him in coverage. 

One Big Question

Will the staff changes start taking a toll on the offense?

This will be the fourth straight year the Buccaneers have a new offensive coordinator and it’s happened every single year in Bowles’ tenure so far. He moved on from Byron Leftwich after a challenging 2022 season, lost Dave Canales to the Panthers after one year in 2023 and then saw Liam Coen leave for the Jaguars coaching vacancy this offseason. To replace him, Bowles settled on promoting pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard, who arrived on staff with Coen last year, in an attempt to preserve continuity. 

Throughout all of this, the Buccaneers have won the NFC South every single season, so the turnover at play-caller hasn’t held them back too much. It helps that Bowles apparently has a good eye for hiring, and there’s been a lot of continuity with the rest of the offensive personnel, including QB Baker Mayfield who’s going into his third season with Tampa Bay.

Still, there’s a risk every time a change like this is made. Grizzard is a first-time play-caller and there could be an adjustment period. Tampa Bay has earned the benefit of the doubt with this decision after the past couple of years but it is a good illustration of the challenges a defensive-minded head coach like Bowles has to manage compared to others.