Managing your family’s wealth means more to Amuni Financial than simply allocating your assets. It means legacy planning, brokerage & advisory services, retirement accounts, college savings accounts and insurance services. With 40 years of experience, let Amuni Financial help you plan ahead and stay ahead.

Call Amuni Financial at (800) 868-6864 or visit Amuni.com.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: The Bucs had $80 million in dead cap, a first-time offensive play caller, rookies and undrafted players playing huge roles. They beat Philly, hung tough in Detroit. There is a lot to build on. Where will the upgrades come – either in free agency or the draft? Where should Tampa Bay upgrade?

Bucs WR Mike Evans and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The Bucs were a 9-8 team this year, not a 12-5 team. And they have plenty of personnel needs as a result. Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht and his personnel staff have done a great job of reloading this team through the draft with 10 starters coming from the last two draft classes. They’ll continue to lean on the draft as the primary tool to upgrade the talent.

Yet the Bucs won’t be as restricted with the salary cap this year because they won’t be dealing with $80 in dead cap money. They’ll have money to spend in free agency this year, but the team will need to spend most of it re-signing its own free agents. Free safety Antoine Winfield Jr., quarterback Baker Mayfield, wide receiver Mike Evans, kicker Chase McLaughlin and inside linebacker Lavonte David are the priorities.

Assuming those players are re-signed, the Bucs have pressing needs at guard, a pass-rushing outside linebacker, strong safety, and they could use upgrades at center, tight end and finding another running back to pair with Rachaad White. My guess is that the Bucs will address either guard or center in free agency and then the other position will be filled in the draft.

QUESTION: How much money will they have to spend on free agents? Greg Auman says not that much after the Bucs re-sign there own free agents.

ANSWER: According to OverTheCap.com right now, the Bucs are slated to have $47,156,102 in cap space. Yet there are some unaccounted for NLTBE (not likely to be earned) bonuses that must be factored in that will actually reduce the Bucs’ cap space down to around $38 million next year.

There will be some players released who will create more cap room, more likely wide receiver Russell Gage and outside linebacker Shaq Barrett. But Greg Auman is correct. Tampa Bay will likely use most of its available cap space re-signing its top free agents.

Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht has done better with value free agent signings. Like the Bucs signing quarterback Baker Mayfield this offseason to a one-year, prove-it deal worth $4 million, and signing Barrett to the similar deal in free agency in 2019.

Sometimes, a big free agent deal like the one he gave Ryan Jensen in 2018 pays off. But more often than not, big free agent deals underwhelm, like the three-year, $30 million deal that Gage was signed to in 2022.

QUESTION: Who are you willing to let go in this offseason and who should be the main focus to keep?

Bucs K Chase McLaughlin – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: The priority in Tampa Bay is actually four-fold. Keeping All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is a must. He’s been the Bucs’ best player on defense and its top playmaker. And there is no way the Bucs will be a better team without Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans in 2024, especially with how Chris Godwin is often under-utilized in Dave Canales’ offense despite him just getting over 1,000 yards.

The fact that the Bucs found a quarterback this year in Baker Mayfield just one year after Tom Brady’s retirement was quite a coup for general manager Jason Licht. Mayfield, along with kicker Chase McLaughlin are the other free agents-to-be who must be back.

The Bucs need to definitely part ways with three free agents. Inside linebacker Devin White needs to go. He’s too inconsistent and has handled his contract year all wrong. Strong safety Ryan Neal is a limited athlete who underwhelmed this year and shouldn’t be back. Guard Matt Feiler is past his prime and needs to find a new team next year if he still wants to play.

QUESTION: We all like Baker Mayfield, but looking over the NFL and seeing C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love, Josh Allen, etc. I’m sure we all know he has a limited ceiling. What are the odds the Bucs try to draft a QB with more upside like a Jayden Daniels or a Michael Penix Jr.?

Tulane QB Michael Pratt – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I’m all in favor of the Bucs re-signing quarterback Baker Mayfield in free agency and still drafting a quarterback of the future. Mayfield turns 29 in April and signing him to a three-year deal around $25 million per year makes sense. That’s the type of deal that Seattle’s Geno Smith received last year.

I’m not sure that Kyle Trask, the team’s second-year pick in 2021, has the ability to be an NFL starter and play at a high level. With Trask entering a contract year in 2024, we might never know what type of quarterback he could become. But Tampa Bay may not have time to find out.

Drafting a new quarterback will give the team another young passer for Dave Canales to groom, and a possible successor to Mayfield in time. But the Bucs would also need another QB who could step in for Mayfield if he were to get hurt.

I don’t think Tampa Bay should spend a first-round pick on a quarterback due to more pressing needs at other positions. But perhaps selecting one like Tulane’s Michael Pratt in the third or fourth round make sense. Pratt will be one of the quarterbacks at this year’s Senior Bowl, and Pewter Report will be there to report on the week’s practices next week.

QUESTION: With the ups and downs, are we setting ourselves up for a “Dirk Koetter” situation where we keep Dave Canales, due to fear of missing out and not letting him go elsewhere? I like the presence/perceived swagger of Canales. Maybe I’m overreacting due to it being his first year though and expect more.

Bucs OC Dave Canales and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: With head coach Todd Bowles staying on for another season, he’ll need to continue to show improvement. Through two years as the Bucs’ head coach, Bowles has a 17-17 record in the regular season and is 1-2 in the postseason. Bowles did win back-to-back NFC South championships, but his position in Tampa Bay is not exactly rock solid moving forward.

The Bucs do like offensive coordinator Dave Canales, and he has the charisma and leadership qualities to become a very good head coach in time. The benefit to having Canales on staff is that if Bowles stumbles out of the gate in 2024 and the team wants to make a change, Canales could be promoted to the role of interim head coach.

This could very well be a Dirk Koetter-type of situation in Tampa Bay. Koetter was Lovie Smith’s offensive coordinator in 2014-15 and was promoted to being the head coach in 2016 after Smith was fired. We’ll see what happens in 2024 with the Bucs record-wise and how Canales develops.

QUESTION: I was worried Todd Bowles would revert to “safe” play-calling after the Eagles win. We saw “third-and-Bowles” strike so much this season and at critical times in the Lions game. Any ideas on why Bowles backs off so much in coverage on third-and-long? It’s frustrating to watch.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Lions quarterback Jared Goff is the puzzle that Todd Bowles has yet to figure out. Goff completed 30-of-43 passes for 287 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions in Detroit’s 31-23 playoff win on Sunday. Back in the Lions’ Week 6 victory, Goff completed 30-of-44 passes for 353 yards with two touchdowns and no picks.

It was basically the same kind of performance from Goff in both games. Bowles’ defense had no answers, and no counter or adjustment to the Lions’ offensive attack, which was repetitive throws to the middle of the field.

Bowles didn’t pressure Goff enough with blitzes, and when he did blitz, they weren’t effective. So Bowles was resigned to rushing four and playing coverage. The problem is that the Bucs don’t have a player who can consistently win one-on-ones up front. Nor do they have a defensive back who can come up with interceptions on a consistent basis.

I think the Bucs need another playmaker in the secondary, as the defensive backs only had nine of the team’s 13 interceptions this season. Tampa Bay also needs a consistent pass rusher up front who can apply constant pressure. Until Bowles gets those players, the Bucs will probably continue to disappoint against teams with great quarterbacks like Goff and the Lions and C.J. Stroud and the Texans.