With Tom Brady retiring it’s no secret the Bucs will need a new quarterback. But how does that factor into how the national media views the team? Sure, there is still a strong nucleus of talent in Tampa Bay. But this is a quarterback-driven league. And that’s where the Bucs find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Not to mention a plethora of free agents to re-sign this offseason.

Still the team should be able to move around plenty of cap room to re-sign the free agents they want to. All while letting the market dictate the future of players they’d like to have back. That still leaves the quarterback situation. What Tampa Bay does here will dictate their true level of competitiveness next season.

Do they trade for a star quarterback like Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson? Do they settle for the next rung of guys like Kirk Cousins or Derek Carr? Of course, it takes two to tango in a trade. How much draft capital are the Bucs willing to spend to acquire a top quarterback? They could go the free agent route in reuniting with Jameis Winston or Ryan Fitzpatrick, or target veteran Teddy Bridgewater. Then there’s also the possibility of Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask manning the ship. These decisions will truly determine whether the Bucs are contenders or not and why it makes them difficult to rank.

The Power Rankings

Before we look ahead, let’s look back at the 2021 season.

Lindsay Jones of the Athletic, ranked the Bucs seventh in her final power rankings of the year. Personally, I think that is far too low for a team that tied for the best record in the league. And was a bad defensive call away from potentially having overtime decide the NFC Championship game.

As Jones’ mentions, the goal most certainly was to win another Super Bowl. But back-to-back championships was always going to be a challenge. It hasn’t been done since 2004! To rank the Bucs behind a team like the 49ers is a travesty. Especially considering all Tampa Bay’s injuries.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

Looking at power rankings for the 2022 season, it’s easy to see where the media will question Tampa Bay. NFL.com released their early 2022 power rankings on Tuesday, and for the Bucs it wasn’t the greatest of landing spots. Coming in at 19 overall puts them in the lower half of the middle tier, and just outside of the playoffs in this projection.

And look, I get it. The Bucs need a quarterback. There’s no getting around it. But there should be faith that with stout defensive play and even a game manager behind center, Tampa Bay could still be in a favorable position to in the division.

It’s only February. The combine hasn’t started, free agency is a month away, and the draft is months from now. The Bucs will make moves. As long as the core of this roster is together, the front office and coaching staff don’t appear interested in a rebuild year.

Instead I expect them to be aggressive when looking for the next QB of the Bucs. All while retaining as many free agents as possible. Remember, Bruce Arians said they were retooling, not rebuilding. My money’s on the Bucs finding a guy that can lead the offense at least into the Wild Card round and potentially beyond. A ranking of 19th overall is a little too low for me.