Several national media outlets are grading NFL teams’ offseasons so far, and Football Outsiders is one of the latest when it comes to evaluating what the Bucs have – and haven’t done – to this point. Football Outsiders dished out a report card to the NFC South teams, and actually gave the Bucs the second-best grade in the division – a C.

Carolina received the best grade, a B+, while New Orleans received a C- and Atlanta received a D+ despite receiving a B for “improved roster” this offseason.

Tampa Bay received an F in that category – likely because the Bucs have done little in bringing in new players outside of quarterback Baker Mayfield, defensive tackle Greg Gaines and running back Chase Edmonds. The Bucs received a C+ for “used resources well,” which might be low due to the team’s tight salary cap situation this year.

But the Bucs received an A for coherent plan, which trailed the Panthers’ A+ and was higher than the Saints’ C- and Panthers’ D grades. Here is what Football Outsiders had to say about the Bucs this offseason.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

Seventy.

Five.

Million.

Dollars.

In.

Dead.

Money.

That’s the area in which the Buccaneers find themselves after Tom Brady’s retirement. (It’s actually $74,566,702 if you want to get pedantic.) That’s nearly $20 million more than the next-highest team (Philadelphia), and about $12 million more than the Falcons had last year after trading Matt Ryan. Brady alone accounts for over $35 million of that sum, a total matched by only four other teams this season.

Donovan Smith, Lavonte David, Leonard Fournette, Akiem Hicks, and Shaq Mason are also each contributing at least $4 million—more as individuals than the Dolphins, Chargers, or Bengals have in total.

With nearly one-third of their cap space devoted to players who won’t be on the roster this fall, the Bucs have been unable to retain key defenders such as safety Mike Edwards, lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and corner Sean Murphy-Bunting, all of whom signed elsewhere after their contracts expired. They were able to retain star corner Jamel Dean, their best young player, but they added barely any talent, bringing in Baker Mayfield and Chase Edmonds for relative pennies.

The failing grade for improving the roster is self-explanatory, but their other grades are better because they found a way to re-sign Dean and take a cheap flier on Mayfield, and their plan is obvious: reminisce about the 2020 Lombardi Trophy, yank off the financial Band-Aid, and prepare for 2024.

Football Outsiders Leaves Out Two Key Components With Bucs Analysis

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett and NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Football Outsiders leaves out two key component in its analysis. The Bucs are back-to-back NFC South champions. Most of the talent on the roster – which boasts nine players who have made at least one Pro Bowl and all of whom contributed to win a Super Bowl – remains. Not only from last year, but from 2021 when the Bucs had a franchise-best 13-4 record, and from 2020 when the team became world champions.

There was also no mention of retaining linebacker Lavonte David, who was one of the top free agents available this year, for $5.5 million less than a year ago. That was just as important as re-signing Dean and more important than adding a backup runner like Edmonds, who was mentioned in the analysis.

Did Tampa Bay’s roster need improving? Sure, that certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing. Every NFL team is trying to improve its roster each offseason.

But maybe the existing players and Pro Bowlers simply need to play better in 2023 after a down year in 2022 collectively. There’s no mention of that in Football Outsiders’ analysis, which makes it a bit hollow.

Maybe there is sufficient talent to win with on the existing roster, evidenced by back-to-back championships within the division. To be fair, whether the Bucs can win at a higher level and become the NFC South victors again without Tom Brady remains to be seen as of yet.