A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough question. This week’s prompt: What should the Bucs’ new year’s resolution be for 2025?

Scott Reynolds: Keep Mike Greenberg In Tampa Bay

Bucs assistant GM Mike Greenberg and Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There is an art to team-building in the NFL, and Bucs general manager Jason Licht is a master artist in this arena. The massive amount of talent that the Bucs have assembled on their roster comes from the talented front office that Licht has assembled over the years. Tampa Bay’s great drafting is not by accident. It comes from having talented scouts and personnel people that have bought into looking for – and finding – the players that fit the “I Am That Man” description as outlined by Licht and assistant general manager John Spytek. Consistency in the Bucs’ front office has allowed for consistently great drafts.

For some reason, the rest of the league hasn’t caught on to the fact that the Bucs do such a great job at drafting, at signing free agents and having the supreme salary cap management that allows Tampa Bay to retain its stars each year. But the 2025 offseason feels like the year where Spytek finally gets hired as a general manager elsewhere. He’s very deserving of the opportunity to build and run his own NFL team. And Spytek will likely take a few Bucs scouts and front office members with him. Directors of player personnel Mike Biehl (college scouting) and Rob McCartney (pro scouting) are also worthy of becoming general managers and could get plucked from the Bucs organization.

Yet the one key front member that Licht can’t afford to lose is assistant G.M. Mike Greenberg. He’s the Bucs’ salary cap manager, chief contract negotiator and top strategist. Greenberg is too valuable to lose because he’s truly irreplaceable. He’s expected get some interest from the New York Jets – the team he grew up rooting for and previously interned for – for the vacant general manager position in the coming weeks. If Greenberg were to get hired away as a G.M. he would likely take Jackie Davidson, the Bucs’ director of football research, with him, as she helps Greenberg with contracts, the cap and team-building strategy.

Licht has built a talented and deep roster of scouts. He and the Bucs would be able to weather some losses in the personnel department as a result of that depth. Licht’s close friend Jon Robinson, the former Titans general manager, could always be an option to return to Tampa Bay to fill a major void should Biehl, McCartney or Spytek leave. But there’s no obvious replacement for Greenberg, who interviewed for the Panthers general manager position last January. If there’s a chance Greenberg could depart, Licht and the Glazers need to do whatever is necessary to try to retain him.

Matt Matera: Bucs Need To Re-Sign Chris Godwin

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs offense is in a great spot. They’re a high-flying, high-scoring team that seems to put up 30 points automatically before you can even blink. And the beauty of it all is for the large majority of players on offense, every important key component is under contract for at least next season. Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Rachaad White and all of the offensive line except for left guard Ben Bredeson will be back next year. The only exception is star wide receiver Chris Godwin.

Let’s not forget how great Chris Godwin was playing before his season-ending injury on Monday Night Football against the Ravens. His 576 receiving yards was leading Tampa Bay and put him in the top three in the NFL in receiving yards. He was getting back on track to scoring touchdowns as well, having five through seven games. As fun as it’s been watching Mike Evans play so well down the stretch and get close to 1,000 yards, it was Godwin that Tampa Bay’s offense went through before his dislocated ankle.

It’s been spectacular seeing rookie receiver Jalen McMillan emerge in the passing game, scoring six touchdowns in his last four games. He’s important to the picture. As fantastic as Tampa Bay’s offense has been, it’ll be even better if Godwin comes back to the Bucs next season.

Eventually Evans is going to retire and the team will need someone else to rely on. The depth chart at receiver gets a little thin after McMillan. Making sure that Godwin returns is better for everybody involved. The Bucs regain their 1-2 punch with Evans and Godwin while also ensuring that they have an answer whenever Evans stops playing. Godwin gets to stay in Tampa Bay, continue building his legacy with this franchise, and he gets paid handsomely for it. The Bucs can continue to win in the offseason by retaining Godwin for 2025 and beyond.

Bailey Adams: Time To Rebuild Bucs Defense With Impact Free Agents

Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

For the first time since before their Super Bowl LV season, the Bucs will head into an offseason without a big group of their own high-priority free agents to re-sign. Because of that and because they’re finally going to be in a better spot with the cap, the team should have some more money to spend. Some of that should go toward re-signing Chris Godwin, but once that’s squared away, rebuilding the defense with some impact free agents would be a worthwhile new year’s resolution for Tampa Bay to act on.

The Bucs are one win away from finishing 10-7 and winning a fourth straight NFC South title. If they can get that done, they will have improved upon last year’s win total by one, and they will have done so with some shoddy play from their defense.

There’s not enough pass rush on the outside, the inside linebackers can’t cover the middle of the field and the secondary flat-out hasn’t played well enough. So why not go out and bolster the pass rush with a proven piece? Why not add a veteran inside linebacker to shore up one spot and plug in SirVocea Dennis (while potentially drafting another linebacker) for the other spot? Maybe throw some money at a veteran cornerback, too?

If Tampa Bay can get its defense up to speed again heading into 2024 and assuming it can accomplish one of its other main resolutions in retaining offensive coordinator Liam Coen (as I’m sure one of my colleagues will be writing about here), it could find itself in contention for a Super Bowl in 2025. Keeping Coen and continuing to field a Top 5 offense next year – and actually pairing it with a good defense – would have the Bucs near the top of the list of contenders in the NFC. Jason Licht and the front office have to find a way to make it all happen in the coming months.

Josh Queipo: Keep The Special Talent That Is Liam Coen

Bucs OC Liam Coen and Co-Chair Joel Glazer – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s no secret that I was a fan of former Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales. I thought he was a smart mind who had brought some needed improvements to the Bucs’ scheme, especially in the passing game. When he left for the head coaching gig in Carolina, I was skeptical that Liam Coen could step in and be as good from a process perspective. Boy was I wrong! Coen has been all that and more. And it’s the process that has impressed me so much (more) with Coen.

There are several Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan disciples proliferating throughout the NFL right now. Many are enjoying varying degrees of success. Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota and Matt LaFleur in Green Bay highlight the group. Zac Robinson in Atlanta is starting to heat up now that he has moved away from the ghost of Kirk Cousins. But it’s not as simple as find someone who has worked for one of those two and “voila,” success. Canales had/has his struggles. And Bobby Slowik in Houston could be on the hot seat.

Move past the scheme. Coen has. He re-invented his run game a quarter of the way through the season. Coen is reinventing his play-action game off of it as we speak. Shanahan no longer runs a heavy wide-zone scheme. Neither does McVay. The scheme is not what makes them great. It is their ability to reinvent themselves and their offenses as a response to defensive league trends while also modifying for the talent they have. Coen has that same trait. That’s one of the most defining traits of a great coach. What do you have up your sleeve when plan A is not going to work? What does plan B, C – and hell, plan R – look like?

Great organizations keep special talents. Liam Coen is a special talent. Look beyond the admittedly impressive stats. Look at his process. It is special. He is special. The Bucs need to resolve to keep special in Tampa Bay.

Adam Slivon: Make A Trade To Add A Defensive Star

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and Raiders DE Maxx Crosby – Photo by: USA Today

When it’s time to capitalize on a playoff window, Bucs general manager Jason Licht has made splashy free-agent signings and trades. Look no further than during Tom Brady’s tenure, when Tampa Bay signed Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, and Ndamukong Suh, among others. On the trade front, Licht moved draft capital for Rob Gronkowski and Jason Pierre-Paul. All of those moves paid off, and it’s something the team needs to consider doing again.

With Baker Mayfield at the helm, the team is in another playoff window. Should Liam Coen stick around, the offense appears set with plenty of building blocks and weapons. The defense, though, could use some upgrades. It has largely been a disappointing year on that side of the football, from the inside linebacker play, lack of an outside pass rush, and spotty secondary production. That could change by making a big trade.

Each area needs help, but I want to focus on the outside pass rush. Two big names in Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby would drastically improve things upfront. Garrett remains at the top of his game, but with the Browns’ struggles, he could look for a new home — and rejoin a team led by Mayfield. Crosby is in a similar position, with the Raiders nowhere near being a playoff contender in a tough division. Both would cost a pretty penny and some draft capital, but adding one of them would signal the team is serious about making a Super Bowl run and it would also elevate the play of the defenders around them. It’s time to consider this level of a move — and pull the trigger if the price is right.