Bucs HC Todd Bowles and ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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 this 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: If you’re Jason Licht, how do you see Todd Bowles’ role in the midseason slumps? I know injuries hit hard this season (and rumored player complacency), but twice in a row is dangerously close to forming a trend.

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

ANSWER: It’s a very good question, right? I’m not Jason Licht, so I can’t speak for him. I will say the similarities in the last two seasons are striking. A pair of 3-1 starts dissolve into 4-6 records by midseason, each accompanied with a four-game losing streak. Yes, Todd Bowles gets credit for digging the team out of the hole, but he was also the head coach who presided over the digging of the hole, too.

The Bucs have improved in wins from eight to nine to 10 in each of the last three years, so there has been some progress. And Bowles’ Bucs did a  better job against playoff-caliber teams in 2024, going 4-4 in those games and 6-3 in teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason. When Tampa Bay was 8-9 in 2022, the Bucs were 3-6 versus playoff teams and 5-3 in non-playoff teams. In 2023, the Bucs were 9-8 and only 1-5 against playoff teams and 8-3 versus non-playoff teams. Bowles’ overall record versus playoff teams is 8-15 and against teams that don’t qualify for the postseason is 19-9.

I don’t know how to feel about Bowles. There’s a part of me that was really disappointed in the defense regressing, and yes, I do understand that unit had its share of injuries this year. But the maddening game management and clock management issues are still present for sure – and they’ve been there in each of his three seasons in Tampa Bay. I don’t think Bowles has a good feel of when to call timeouts, and that’s concerning.

I also feel like Bowles has hit a ceiling with this team the way Tony Dungy eventually did with the Bucs in 2001. Can he break through that in 2025? I was very disappointed with the home playoff loss to Washington, and his 1-3 record in the postseason is glaring. Still, the grass isn’t always greener, and there’s a chance that another coach could do far worse in Tampa Bay. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs stick with Bowles again, and all indications are that they will right now.

QUESTION: Love PR’s Mailbag and all your content. Scott mentioned that anything goes when it comes to firing/ hiring coaches in Tampa Bay. Lots of trade buzz regarding Mike Tomlin. Ex-Bucs secondary coach has some Bucs blood in him. Do you think Glazers would be interested?

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Thank you for the kudos. I have seen some wild coaching changes in Tampa Bay. I’ve seen Tony Dungy fired after three straight playoff appearances. I saw the Bucs go a month without a head coach after firing Dungy and before trading for Jon Gruden. I’ve seen Gruden fired after a 9-3 start turned into a 9-7 finish in 2008 and a missed opportunity at the playoffs. Gruden had just signed a three-year contract extension (with a raise) in the 2008 offseason and got fired 19 days after the season ended.

I saw general manager Jason Licht fire the head coach, Lovie Smith, who hired him and promote the team’s offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter, to replace Smith. I saw Bruce Arians abruptly retire on March 22 and be replaced by defensive coordinator Todd Bowles – two weeks into free agency. So I’ve seen Bucs coaches fired and hired in late December, early January, late January, mid-February and late March. It’s been crazy.

I don’t think the Bucs would have an interest in trading for Mike Tomlin, who is one of the best in the business. I love Tomlin, and he does have Bucs roots, as he was the team’s defensive backs coach from 2001-2005. He’s won a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh and has an NFL record for most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin coaching career at 18. But Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game in nine years, and he’s struggled to get the Steelers offense right since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement years ago. Bowles won a playoff game last year and I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

The Steelers have said they aren’t trading Tomlin, and he’s said he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else. So I don’t think that’s happening. If the Bucs were a team with multiple years with a losing record instead of making the playoffs for five straight seasons, there might be more interest in entertaining this thought among the Glazers. But it’s not in the cards in Tampa Bay right now. I believe Bowles will return as head coach in 2025.

QUESTION: Do you think Lavonte David will be back next year? He’s slowed down a bit in pass coverage but otherwise is still playing good ball. On aside note, I bet Sterling Shepard gets the lowest PFF grade for the offense in the playoff game.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I don’t know if Lavonte David will return to Tampa Bay next year at age 35. That’s a question only David can answer later this offseason after he takes time to unwind and reflect on his 2024 season and see how his body feels. He will have a couple of months to consider retirement or returning as free agency doesn’t start until March 10.

If Todd Bowles returns as head coach and defensive play-caller, which seems likely right now, I think the chances of David returning are greater than if the team were to move on from Bowles and bring in a different defensive coordinator. David has a great admiration for Bowles as a man and a leader, and he’s obviously a good fit for his scheme.

If David does return in 2025, he might be better off not playing close to 100 percent of the snaps as he has done throughout his 13 years in Tampa Bay. I’m not suggesting that David needs to platoon with another inside linebacker throughout the entire game, but maybe just take a series or two off each game to better preserve his body throughout the season.

David’s slip in pass coverage was noticeable this year. He had a career-low 67.9 Pro Football Focus overall grade and was the Bucs’ 15th-ranked defender and seventh-ranked defensive starter. His 56.9 PFF coverage grade in 2024 was also a career low, and his overall PFF grade was 56.7 in the playoff game with a 44 coverage grade.

It does help David’s bargaining power that SirVocea Dennis is the only starting-caliber inside linebacker under contract in Tampa Bay right now. K.J. Britt is an unrestricted free agent and probably won’t be re-signed, while J.J. Russell is a restricted free agent. And you are correct that veteran receiver Sterling Shepard was the lowest-graded offensive player in the playoff loss to Washington with a 59 overall PFF grade.

QUESTION: Why is the Pewter Report staff so sure that defensive assistants are no longer good at their job? Not many instances of talent not being the No. 1 reason for NFL success. Did not dead money leave this team really thin especially on the back end? Are they teaching bad technique?

Bucs OLBs coach George Edwards and head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I’ll start off by saying that outside linebackers coach George Edwards, cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross and safeties coach Nick Rapone have forgotten more football than I’ve ever learned. Having said that, I believe Todd Bowles needs to make some coaching changes on his defensive staff. Firing those three – or encouraging them to retire – would be a great place to start given the underwhelming nature of the outside linebacker position and the secondary.

I don’t think much of Edwards, and I’m not alone in that opinion. For some reason, Bowles continues to think that Edwards is a great coach. He’s spent most of his years coaching linebackers, and the outside linebackers in Tampa Bay’s 3-4 defense are more like pass-rushing defensive ends, especially when the Bucs go with a four-man front. So I think he’s out of his element.

Edwards has not done a good job of developing the pass rush game of the team’s edge rushers. To have Yaya Diaby regress in 2024 and lead the room with 4.5 sacks in 17 games is not good. The outside linebackers had a collective 12 sacks this year, which is pathetic. The Bucs need a real pass rush coach to unlock the potential of Diaby and Chris Braswell, who flashed as a rookie in limited opportunities.

Bucs CBs Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean and CBs coach Kevin Ross – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Edwards believed far too much in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who is not a starting-caliber outside linebacker, and that came at the expense of developing Braswell, the team’s second-round pick. Tryon-Shoyinka finished with just two sacks in 15 games with 11 starts, and Braswell hardly played and notched 1.5 sacks.

The Bucs only totaled seven interceptions this year with six coming from the secondary, which was pathetic and reflects poorly on Ross and Rapone. Zyon McCollum had only two interceptions in his first three years after recording 15 in college, which tells me that it’s not an issue of talent or ability. Jamel Dean had one interception this season and that was his lone INT in the past two years.

Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks have played too soft in coverage for far too long, and I’m not the only one who has this opinion of Ross, who just turned 63. Ross played with Bowles at Temple. It’s time that Bowles promote nickelbacks coach Rashad Johnson, who is 39, to cornerbacks coach to replace Ross. Rapone, who was Todd Bowles’ position coach at Temple, turns 69 in April and it may be time for Bowles to bring some new, young blood to coach his safeties, who really underwhelmed in 2024.

Yet I don’t see Bowles pulling the trigger on those proposed changes. He’ll stick with his guys, unfortunately.

QUESTION: The team’s top priority should be defense heading into the offseason, but assuming Liam Coen returns as offensive coordinator and Chris Godwin re-signs – what should be the team’s top priority offensively?

Ole Miss WR Tre Harris – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: If Liam Coen is retained as the offensive coordinator and wide receiver Chris Godwin is re-signed, which I’ve already gone on record as saying will happen, re-signing left guard Ben Bredeson should be a priority. Bredeson wasn’t highly thought of by Pro Football Focus, evidenced by his 56 overall grade. But the Bucs thought he really upgraded the left guard position over Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie.

Bredeson could be re-signed to a one-year deal with a raise, perhaps at $4 million instead of $3 million. I don’t think he’s going to be a sought-after free agent. And his return could help the depth at center in case Robert Hainsey leaves via free agency. The Bucs should re-sign Bredeson and have him compete with Elijah Klein, last year’s sixth-round pick for the right to start.

Perhaps exploring free agency to find a better backup quarterback than Kyle Trask or Michael Pratt in case something happens to Baker Mayfield is worth doing. And also drafting another wide receiver seems important. We saw what happens when Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are out of the lineup this season. Playing Sterling Shepard, Ryan Miller, Trey Palmer and Rakim Jarrett alongside rookie Jalen McMillan was not ideal.

Plus, Evans will be 32 next year and Godwin turns 29 in February. Finding another wide receiver to groom alongside McMillan for the future is important. Plus, having four starting-caliber wide receivers would give the team quality depth and make Tampa Bay’s passing game even that much more dangerous in 2025.

QUESTION: This may be early but heard Scott mention he will be diving into the NFL Draft prospects and free agent shortly. The draft is weak at ILB. Do you see Dre Greenlaw or Zack Baun as an option to replace K.J. Britt? Lavonte David comes back!

Eagles LB Zack Baun – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Well, the Bucs offseason is here, courtesy of an upset loss to the Commanders in the Wild Card playoffs last Sunday night. So it’s officially time to focus on free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. And the inside linebacker position will have to be a point of emphasis. Lavonte David is a legend, but he’s about to turn 35. K.J. Britt is a free agent and not starting-caliber. J.J. Russell is a restricted free agent, but a better backup than a starter. SirVocea Dennis showed promise early before a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4.

If David doesn’t return, the Bucs could have three new players on their inside linebacker depth chart along with Dennis in 2025. I’m a big fan of both San Francisco’s Dre Greenlaw and Philadelphia’s Zack Baun. After four nondescript seasons in New Orleans, Baun was a perfect fit as a starter in Philly and made his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro honor after he signed a one-year, prove-it deal.

Baun, who just turned 28, set career highs with 151 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and an interception in 2024 and earned a 90.1 overall Pro Football Focus grade and an impressive 91.7 pass coverage grade, which should interest the Bucs. Greenlaw, who turns 28 in May, has always been great in coverage. An Achilles injury in last year’s Super Bowl limited him to just two games at the end of last year, but he should be completely healthy in 2025.

Yet 49ers general manager John Lynch has said he wants to keep Greenlaw, so we’ll see if he even makes it to free agency. Baun should, but will command a king’s ransom. And is Baun a one-year wonder? That’s something the Bucs will have to consider, but either would look great next to Dennis in red and pewter.