A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday during the Bucs’ regular season. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough question. This week’s prompt: What is your New Year’s resolution for the Bucs?

Scott Reynolds: Another Premier Weapon On Offense

I’m a defensive-minded guy, and my first inclination is to suggest that the Bucs find a dominant edge rusher either in the 2024 NFL Draft or free agency to pair with YaYa Diaby moving forward. But I also know that today’s NFL is all about scoring points. It’s no surprise that eight out of the Top 10 scoring teams in the league have already clinched a playoff berth, and the other two – Buffalo and Indianapolis – are each a win away in Week 18 from making the postseason.

Washington WR Rome Odunze – Photo by: USA Today

Points matter, and when the Bucs were scoring 30 points per game in 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay had double-digit wins. Last year when scoring dipped to 18 points per game – even with Tom Brady – the Bucs’ record fell to 8-9. Scoring in Tampa Bay is up a bit this year to 21 points per game, but the Bucs will either finish with eight wins again or perhaps nine victories if they beat the Panthers in Carolina on Sunday.

If the Bucs want to get back to double-digit wins and winning the division sooner than in Week 17 or 18 the team must score more points in 2024. Assuming Mike Evans is re-signed in the offseason – Tampa Bay would be foolish not to – the Bucs need to find another premier weapon on offense, either at tight end or at wide receiver. We’ve seen glimpses of production from tight end Cade Otton and rookie wide receiver Trey Palmer, but neither has been a consistent force that scares opposing defenses like wide receiver Antonio Brown or tight end Rob Gronkowski did from 2020-21.

Finding another big-play tight end to supplant Otton as TE1 is crucial in 2024. The NFL Draft doesn’t have a lot of talent at the tight end position, but Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott would represent a huge upgrade in the receiving department in the third round. Otton is ideally nothing more than a backup tight end, really.

And while Palmer is worth developing, he’s ideally a better WR4 candidate than Deven Thompkins is. Drafting a wide receiver like Washington’s Rome Odunze in the first round or LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. in the second would be ideal. They are better, more well-rounded receivers that could eventually become a No. 1 receiver to replace Mike Evans in time, or at least a No. 2 receiver to take over for Chris Godwin after 2024, assuming he’s not re-signed.

More weapons on offense usually equals more touchdowns, and more touchdowns equals more points. Of course more points also means more victories, so the Bucs will need to get another big-time weapon in 2024 to team up with Evans and Godwin and really take Tampa Bay’s offense to the next level.

Matt Matera: A Consistent Pass Rush From Their Defensive Front

The Bucs defense has regressed this season, going from the group that would be responsible for winning games to a unit that is just trying to hang on at the end. Part of this is because Tampa Bay hasn’t been able to generate a good enough pass rush from its defensive line on a consistent basis.

Bucs OLB YaYa Diaby and DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There are moments when this group looks fantastic. One can point recently to the win over the Jaguars as an example. An issue that’s come about with the defense is the pass rush is either boom-or-bust on a weekly basis. The Bucs can create turnovers, which speaks to why they’ve been at the top of the list of the best turnover ratio in the league. But they’re also very reliant on the blitz to generate pressure against quarterbacks.

Often its defensive backs Antoine Winfield Jr. and Christian Izien in pursuit of the QB, or Todd Bowles is constantly sending linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White on blitzes. That’s fine when it works, and to a degree it has, but there have been times when the Bucs had to call blitzes all the time just to create a pass rush.

The problem is when a team sends five or six players at the quarterback it leaves fewer defenders in coverage. If the opponent is able to pick it up, that leaves wide receivers one-on-one and leads to completions. The Bucs are 25th in the league allowing 353.3 total yards per game on defense and their 260.3 passing yards allowed is the worst in the NFL. That speaks to boom-or-bust.

While rookie outside linebacker YaYa Diaby has had a great season leading the Bucs with 6.5 sacks, it’s no surprise that nose tackle Vita Vea, followed by Winfield and David, are next on the list. Tampa Bay hasn’t gotten much else from its other edge rushers. Shaq Barrett isn’t in his prime anymore and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka hasn’t played up to his first-round billing. That leaves many yearning for an undrafted free agent in Markees Watts to get more reps.

It’s not a good idea to rely on defensive tackles Vea and Calijah Kancey to be the team’s lead producers in sacks every game. A better pass rush, particularly from the edge, would go a long way for Tampa Bay. Generating pressure with four players and allowing the Bucs to drop more back in coverage would really help cut down all the yards they’ve allowed.

Bailey Adams: Bucs Need To Take Care Of Their Own

Roster building in the NFL is never an exact science. There are different ways to go about it, and for my money, Bucs general manager Jason Licht has done an incredible job of it over his years in Tampa. As a result, there are a few of the Bucs’ own who they need to take care of as the 2024 calendar year begins and they build toward the 2024 season.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That means paying safety Antoine Winfield Jr. the big-money contract he deserves, locking up left tackle Tristan Wirfs to a long-term deal and — yes — paying wide receiver Mike Evans. Winfield and Wirfs are two pieces the Bucs’ future can be built around, while Evans has gone out and proven in a contract year that he’s not slowing down despite entering his 30s.

Winfield has put together a career year in 2023, and it came at the perfect time. His new contract — one that keeps him around for years to come — is one that Licht and Co. will be happy to hand out.

Wirfs has been elite since day one of his NFL career, and he’s remained a top-tier player even through a difficult transition from right tackle to left. There have been growing pains at times as he has dealt with injuries, but he’s navigated it exceptionally well and will only get better as he gets more comfortable. Tampa Bay needs Wirfs for the long term, as he’s the unquestioned leader of that offensive line.

As for Evans, he may be getting up there in age, but he’s still producing. As much as this is a business and the sentimental side of things is maybe better left out, this is a guy who means everything to this franchise and fan base. He deserves his reward in the form of another

And even on the business side of it, Evans still has it. He’s having one of the best years of his career and has shown that he can play with any quarterback. The Bucs would absolutely be a worse team without him in 2024 whoever plays quarterback — whether it’s Baker Mayfield or a rookie — will be better off with an established No. 1 like Evans, who has earned the right to finish his career as a one-team man.

Oh, and if Lavonte David wants to keep playing, he’s another one who shouldn’t be let out the door. Making sure he’s a career Buc is a part of this, too.

How the Bucs go about this resolution financially is something better left to Pewter Report’s cap expert, Josh Queipo. Then, when it comes to actually putting together a plan to achieve this resolution within the cap and executing it over the course of the offseason, I trust that Bucs cap wizard Mike Greenberg will get the job done.

Josh Queipo: An Alpha Edge Rusher

The Bucs defense was at the height of its powers when Shaq Barrett was a Top 10 edge rusher. Since the beginning of 2022 (even before his Achilles injury), there has been a precipitous drop-off from that side of the ball. Tampa Bay is still largely stout against the run, but the Bucs’ pass defense has been frustratingly up and down.

UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu – Photo by: USA Today

Part of that is because head coach Todd Bowles has gone from layering blitzes on top of a good base four-man rush to having to blitz to make the pass rush relevant. There are good pieces, for sure. The interior has an above average duo in Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey. The outside linebacker room has a high floor between Barrett, Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Anthony Nelson, Cam Gill and Markees Watts.

But what that pass rush lacks is a dominant alpha edge rusher to attract the attention of opposing offense’s pass blocking plans. That player unlocks the rest of the team, giving Kancey and Vea more one-on-one looks, forces offenses to keep running backs and tight ends in more to help in protection and gives the Bucs defense the opportunity to drop more players into coverage to help prevent quarterbacks from hitting 75-85% completion rates.

Whether it be from free agency in a player like Danielle Hunter or Josh Allen, or from the many edge rush options in the 2024 NFL Draft, if the Bucs can get a dominant edge rusher, it raises the floor and the ceiling of what this roster can achieve.

Adam Slivon: Continue Adding Young, Impactful Playmakers Across The Board

The Bucs made headway with this resolution last year as they looked to supplement all of the veterans that walked out the door. Jason Licht took to the NFL Draft and selected Calijah Kancey, Cody Mauch, and YaYa Diaby with his first three picks and all look to be well on their way as future starters.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and GM Jason Licht – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

But what about in the future?

When you look across the roster, there are plenty of starting-caliber players, but are there enough playmakers?

That’s where questions — and hopefully a resolution — present themselves. On offense, the most glaring need of a playmaker is at tight end. At this point, Cade Otton looks a lot better as a No. 2 option than a starter. There are not many playmaking tight ends in the NFL, but one can note how much one impacts an offense (Travis Kelce, George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, etc.).

Tampa Bay has two playmakers at wide receiver in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin right now, but each are not locks beyond next season (yet). Trey Palmer has shown flashes, but the group could use another deep threat capable of igniting the offense.

Switching over to defense, there are even more question marks. Antoine Winfield Jr. patrols the secondary, but he has had to make nearly all the takeaways happen himself. Ryan Neal has not been what the Bucs have hoped for, and no cornerback on the team has flashed a prolonged stretch of playmaking ability. That will need to be part of the resolution.

At linebacker, nearly everyone hopes Lavonte David will return. But what if he doesn’t? Inside linebacker will be another priority. This is not to mention that most glaring area to add another young playmaker — a pass rusher. Diaby has one spot locked down, but an upgrade could be had over Shaq Barrett and Joe Tyron-Shoyinka.

Some pieces have been put in place, but to keep the contention window open, the Bucs will need to keep adding young playmakers on both sides of the ball this year, both in the NFL Draft and free agency.