By virtue of their 13-4 regular season finish to the 2021 regular season, the Bucs will have the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Tampa Bay was tied for the league’s best record with Green Bay. But since the Packers had the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs due to a tiebreaker, Green Bay will have the 28th overall selection behind Tampa Bay.

The Bucs will have one pick in each round except for the sixth. Tampa Bay previously traded its sixth-round pick to Philadelphia. There is the chance the Bucs could gain an extra selection or two when compensatory draft picks are announced later this spring.

NFL Mock Drafts are coming out rapid fire, and Pewter Report’s first 2022 Bucs 7-Round Mock Draft will be revealed on Thursday, January 27.

The Bucs will enter the 2022 offseason with a slew of unrestricted free agents the team will need to consider re-signing or replacing, including 10 starters. Here are the team’s most pressing personnel needs.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Tampa Bay only has two defensive linemen under contract in 2022 – Vita Vea and Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Will 35-year old Ndamukong Suh and 36-year old Steve McLendon retire? Will 30-year old Will Gholston be re-signed? This year’s defensive line draft class really lacks quality and quantity. There may not be a defensive tackle taken until the second round this year. So the Bucs might be better off addressing the defensive line in free agency. Getting Gholston back seems likely, and re-signing Suh for one more season would be a major coup.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Bucs QB Tom Brady, RG Alex Cappa and C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs had three offensive linemen make the Pro Bowl this year. One of those Pro Bowlers, center Ryan Jensen, will be a free agent in 2022 along with right guard Alex Cappa. Tampa Bay likely can’t afford to bring both back. Re-signing Jensen makes the most sense as he’s the leader up front and the better player. If the Bucs hope to get Tom Brady to stick around for another season having his starting center back makes sense. Robert Hainsey, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2021, is the eventual starter, but he’s not ready yet. Replacing a guard like Cappa would be easier. The Bucs could re-sign Aaron Stinnie as a cheaper option. The team has in-house options in Nick Leverett, Sadarius Hutcherson and John Molchon. This year’s draft is full of quality guards and tackles that could be converted to guards.

WIDE RECEIVER

Chris Godwin is a free agent coming off a torn ACL. It’s a safe bet to assume he’ll re-sign in Tampa Bay, but the Bucs offense is wide receiver-driven. With Antonio Brown gone, there is a clear hole at the No. 3 receiver spot. Breshad Perriman is a free agent, and is really  No. 4 receiver at best. The same could be said of Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller, who are both under contract in 2022. Cyril Grayson, Jr. is a free agent too, and Jaelon Darden didn’t do much to impress as a rookie receiver. Finding another versatile play-making receiver with starting potential for three-receiver sets is a priority this offseason. This is a good year to find a receiver as it’s filled with quality and quantity.

CORNERBACK

Bucs CBs Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs will either re-sign Carlton Davis III or use the franchise tag on him. Davis will return along with Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting – both of whom are entering a contract year. Tampa Bay doesn’t need to select a cornerback this year, but it would wise to draft and develop one. The Bucs won’t likely have the trio of Davis, Dean and Murphy-Bunting back in 2023. It’s likely Murphy-Bunting or Dean would depart. Given the number of injuries the team suffered at the cornerback position, drafting one this year would be wise to have him ready to possibly start in 2023. The cornerback crop seems rather deep this year.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

While Tampa Bay spent a first-round pick on edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka last year, the Bucs might need another young pass rusher that can get to the quarterback. Jason Pierre-Paul is oft-injured, just turned 33 and will have offseason shoulder surgery. He’s a free agent and his return is not certain. Shaquil Barrett turns 30 in the fall, and Anthony Nelson is in the final year of his contract. The Bucs had to play several games with JPP and Barrett at the end of the season and the Bucs’ pass rush suffered. Drafting Barrett’s eventual replacement early and developing him to pair with JTS down the road seems like a wise move. If the Bucs are going to get one, it needs to be early. This is not an overly deep class of edge rushers.

RUNNING BACK

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs only have Ke’Shawn Vaughn under contract in 2022. Despite Bruce Arians’ assertion that he can be a “lead back” Vaughn’s mediocre statistics suggest otherwise. Will Leonard Fournette be re-signed? What about Giovani Bernard? The departure of Ronald Jones II seems inevitable. This year’s draft class lacks star power at the position, but there are a couple of intriguing pass-catching backs in this year’s class that fit Tampa Bay’s system.

TIGHT END

Only Cameron Brate is under contract in 2022, and he’s set to earn a $6.5 million base salary. Brate will likely have to take a pay cut if the team wants him back. Rob Gronkowski’s possible return is likely tied to whether Tom Brady sticks around for another season. O.J. Howard, the Bucs’ first-round pick in 2017, hasn’t been the same since tearing his Achilles last year. It seems likely that he’ll get a fresh start elsewhere. This year’s tight end class seems to be deeper than usual with talent.