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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: Do you think that the Bucs sign a pass rusher via free agency, or do they fix it in the NFL Draft? And which free agent pass rusher would make the most sense and why?

ANSWER: At this point I’m not sure if the Bucs sign a pass rusher in free agency prior to the 2024 NFL Draft for a few reasons. The first of which is that most of the younger, high-impact free agents like Bryce Huff (Eagles), Danielle Hunter (Texans) Jonathan Greenard (Vikings) signed elsewhere, while Josh Allen was given the franchise tag by the Jaguars and the Giants traded for Brian Burns.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and OLB Markees Watts – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Baltimore’s Jadeveon Clowney and Kansas City’s Mike Danna had the most sacks last year of the remaining available free agents. Clowney had his best season since 2019 with 9.5 sacks last year with the Ravens, earning an 85.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus and an 81.2 pass rush grade. He notched just two sacks in 10 starts in Cleveland in 2022.

Clowney turns 31 this year and has battled some injuries in the past, although he suited up for all 17 games last year with 15 starts. He missed 27 starts from 2019-22 while playing with the Seahawks (2019), Titans (2020) and Browns (2021-22) before signing a one-year deal with the Ravens last year.

Danna had a less-than-impressive 61.1 PFF pass rush grade, and wins more with effort and technique than actual skill. Despite a career year and winning back-to-back Super Bowls, the market is luke-warm for the former fifth-round pick.

Tampa Bay also doesn’t seem to be interested in former first-round pick Chase Young, who had 7.5 sacks last year between Washington and San Francisco. Young’s price tag will likely be too much, and from what I’ve heard, the Bucs aren’t enamored with the fact he’s had just 16.5 sacks in his four-year NFL career and missed 24 games due to injury.

The second reason why the Bucs may not sign a free agent edge rusher is that there is a good chance that Tampa Bay can address this position in the 2024 NFL Draft. Whether it’s using a first-round pick at No. 26 on an outside linebacker candidate like UCLA’s Laiatu Latu or Penn State’s Chop Robinson if either are there, or Penn State’s Adisa Isaac, Alabama’s Chris Braswell or Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland, Tampa Bay could be poised to use a premium pick on an edge rusher.

Bucs OLB YaYa Diaby and Bills QB Josh Allen – Photo by: USA Today

The third reason is that the cupboard isn’t exactly bare at the position in Tampa Bay despite the team moving on from Shaq Barrett. YaYa Diaby showed a lot of promise in his rookie season and led the team in sacks with 7.5.

But Diaby will need to make strides as a pure pass rusher, as his pass rush win rate was just 6.7%, which was one of the lowest on the team. By comparison, Barrett had a respectable 15% while Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who had five sacks, was actually better at 10.8%. Tryon-Shoyinka, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, enters a contract year, as does Anthony Nelson, and will be motivated to have a strong season.

Tampa Bay is also high on Markees Watts, an undrafted free agent who saw spot duty as a pass rusher last year, and Jose Ramirez, last year’s sixth-round pick who spent his rookie season on the practice squad. By not adding a veteran, the Bucs front office could be creating a path for more playing time for these talented, yet unheralded young pass rushers who flashed behind the scenes.

Yet hope is not a strategy. And hoping that Tryon-Shoyinka or Nelson can have a breakthrough season as a starter, or that Watts or Ramirez can suddenly ascend up the depth chart could come back to bite the team. Thus, the Bucs seem poised to draft another edge rusher in the first three rounds next month.

QUESTION: Do you see the pursuit of an edge rusher, and would Haason Reddick be an option?

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke and Eagles OLB Haason Reddick – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: While the Eagles won’t trade Josh Sweat now due to his contract restructure, Haason Reddick still could be on the move. But I don’t think Tampa Bay would be interested for several reasons. First, Reddick turns 30 this year and aspires to make more than his $15 million per year average. He’s entering a contract year and any team that trades for him will have to sign him to an extension to make the deal worth doing. Otherwise, a team is wasting a draft pick to just rent Reddick for a year.

The Bucs saw what happened when they gave Shaq Barrett a lucrative contract extension worth $17 million per year when he turned 29 a year after playing on the franchise tag at age 28 in 2020. Barrett tore his Achilles tendon when he turned 30 during the 2022 season and his skills diminished. Typically, it’s not good to invest big money in players as they turn 30 or later in their careers. I can’t see the Bucs trading for Reddick.

Reddick also didn’t make a great impression in the two games he played against Tampa Bay last year. He was completely shut out and didn’t even record a tackle by Bucs right tackle Luke Goedeke in Week 3. And he had just one tackle in the Eagles’ playoff loss at Raymond James Stadium with Goedeke shutting him down again.

Reddick didn’t record a sack in either game against Tampa Bay when he was with Carolina in 2021. In fact, he totaled just five tackles in two games and was not a difference-maker as the Bucs swept the Panthers that year.

That’s not to say that Reddick isn’t a good pass rusher. He is. Reddick has 58 career sacks and four straight seasons with double-digit sacks. But he’s been on the trading block for a few weeks now and hasn’t been moved yet. That’s quite telling. The combination of his age and salary demands does not have him in demand despite his skillset.

QUESTION: Is Kevin Zeitler an option at guard for the Bucs?

Bucs G Sua Opeta – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Kevin Zeitler signed a three-year deal with the Ravens worth $22 million ($7.5 million average) and now hits free agency at age 34. According to Pro Football Focus, Zeitler earned a respectable 69.3 grade, including an 82.5 pass blocking grade. But Zeitler only had a 59.7 run block grade last year for the run-first Ravens, and that’s kind of telling.

The Bucs want to get better at running the ball in 2024 after finishing dead last in rushing in 2022 and second-to-last in rushing last year. I think given Zeitler’s age and deteriorating run-blocking skills – he had a 67.5 grade in 2022 – that the Bucs don’t have a lot of interest. Throw in the fact that he’s probably looking for a salary close to what he made in Baltimore and he’s likely priced himself off of Tampa Bay’s free agent wish list.

The Bucs already signed a couple younger and cheaper guard candidates in Ben Bredeson, 26, and Sua Opeta, 27, a year after signing the 30-year old Matt Feiler, whose skills were on the decline. Plus the 2024 NFL Draft is flush with interior offensive linemen. I would suspect the Bucs will spend a premium pick on a guard in April.

QUESTION: In your opinion, what free agency business is left to do by the Bucs?

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Adam Slivon/PR

ANSWER: Any hole on the roster that can be filled in free agency theoretically takes away a need that must be addressed in the NFL Draft. That was certainly the case at strong safety when the Bucs re-signed Jordan Whitehead, thus eliminating the need for finding a starting-caliber player at that position in the draft.

Finding an edge rusher in free agency would be ideal, especially since the 2024 NFL Draft is not overly talented or deep at the position. But the Bucs can’t force it, either, and there are just a few decent pass rushers available.

Tampa Bay has some interest in Tavierre Thomas, a nickelback who has played in Houston the last couple of seasons. Signing him, plus the addition of outside cornerback Bryce Hall, would diminish the need for addressing cornerback early in the draft where the Bucs could focus in the trenches at guard, center and outside linebacker.

Keep in mind that there are still two waves of free agency left for Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht to explore. The first is after the 2024 NFL Draft as teams upgrade their rosters with what they believe to be younger, cheaper and better players. Some veterans could be expendable as a result, or released in cap-cutting moves.

The next wave is during training camp and the preseason as some players are released on the waiver wire or are made available via trade. Licht signed Carl Nassib off the waiver wire in 2018 right before the season opener and he went on to be a two-year starter in Tampa Bay. The Bucs also signed running back Leonard Fournette right before the 2020 season and he played a critical role in Tampa Bay winning Super Bowl LV and then winning 13 games the next season.

QUESTION: How much do we have in cap room now?

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

ANSWER: According to OverTheCap.com, which is the most reliable website when it comes to salary cap calculations, the Bucs have $9,390,943 in cap room. But while that accounts for Russell Gage’s release and recent deals for Chase McLaughlin, Chase Edwards, Greg Gaines and Jordan Whitehead, it does not account for new contracts for Bryce Hall, Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson.

With those one-year deals for Hall, Opeta and Bredeson being modest in nature, the guess here is that the Bucs will have about $5 million when those contracts are figured in. Tampa Bay can always create more cap room by doing contract extensions for Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tristan Wirfs to lower their 2024 cap hits of $17,123,000 and $18,606,582, respectively.

The Bucs can also clear some additional cap space by turning part of the base salaries of Vita Vea ($15.5 million) and Jamel Dean ($12 million) into roster bonuses. Assistant general manager Mike Greenberg only clears cap space as needed, so don’t be alarmed that the Bucs are inching tighter against the cap.