A youthful tight end room for the Bucs has seen what one would expect from a young group over the last two seasons – plenty of growing pains. With flashes of big moments mixed into general inconsistencies, the Bucs need more stability from this group for the 2024 season if they want to improve their offense.

Bucs Tight End Production Last Year

Starting tight end Cade Otton is going into his third NFL season. He’s developed a propensity to make clutch plays late in games, which were highlighted by game-winning touchdowns against the Rams in 2022 and the Falcons in 2023. Otton had a modest 455 receiving yards and four touchdowns last season.

He’s plausible as a pass catcher, but not a game-breaker, as he tends to struggle catching in traffic. While Otton has never had a 100-yard receiving game yet, maybe his eight-catch, 89-yard performance in the playoffs against the Eagles is a sign of things to come. Otton usually plays every offensive snap, so the opportunities were available.

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

“He’s been a very steady player,” general manager Jason Licht said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Sometimes he doesn’t appear to be the flashiest player, but he’s very consistent. And he’s capable of being an every-down player.”

Rookie tight end Payne Durham was drafted to be a red zone presence, but he never scored a touchdown in the 13 games he played in. To be fair, Durham didn’t get much time on offense, averaging 15% of the offensive snaps per game. That amounted to five catches for 58 yards in the regular season and one catch for 18 yards in the postseason.

Ko Kieft was a non-factor in the passing game, making one catch for two yards, but did contribute with a touchdown. He’s mainly a blocking tight end, but struggled in that area last season. And when Kieft is on the field, it usually tips off opposing defenses that the Bucs are going to run the ball. Having a well-rounded tight end replace him this season could make Tampa Bay’s offense less predictable.

Will Bucs Draft Another TE Or Sign A Veteran?

The Bucs need a little something extra from the tight end room, especially to enhance the quarterback play if Baker Mayfield is back. The team can’t just rely on Payne Durham potentially taking a step forward to solve the problems at the position. Does this mean adding a veteran to the group to balance out the young players? It’s a possibility.

“There’s a chance, yeah,” general manager Jason Licht said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “It’s not as deep of a draft this year for tight ends as it was last year. I do think Payne is gonna take a big step this year. But yeah, you’re always looking across the board.”

Licht admitted that Cade Otton needs help around him. It also sounded like Licht knows they can’t put all their eggs in the Durham basket.

“He needs a complement, too,” Licht said. “We’re excited about Payne. We’ll see Payne comes along this year.”

Chargers TE Gerald Everett – Photo by: USA Today

How the Bucs go about adding another tight end will be key. Tampa Bay had three formal interviews with tight ends at the Combine.

But drafting yet another rookie means they’re actually getting younger and less experienced at the tight end position. Georgia’s Brock Bowers won’t be there at No. 26, so Tampa Bay will likely look at adding another Day 3 pick.

That’s why finding a veteran player seems like the right move. One name to keep in mind is Gerald Everett, who was on the Chargers last year, but has familiarity with Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen having played with the Rams from 2017-2020.

In 2023, Everett recorded 411 yards on 51 receptions with three touchdowns. That’s 44 less yards, four more catches and just one less touchdown than Otton had despite Otton out-snapping Everrett on average 97% to 56%.

One pitfall is that Everett was paid $6 million last season and has a projection of signing a contract that would pay him as much as $8.6 million this year, which might be too much for the Bucs. Another inexpensive option would be Mike Gesicki, who would help in the receiving game.

Where Tampa Bay really struggled at the tight end position was blocking. Ko Kieft was primarily a blocker, but the Bucs were once again dead last in rushing yards per game for the second season in a row. Otton is a very inconsistent blocker and Durham needs to get stronger to play inline tight end successfully.

Todd Bowles Weighs In On Bucs TE Room

Bucs TE Payne Durham – Photo by: USA Today

Head coach Todd Bowles also felt that the blocking needs to improve from the tight end group. Though for the rest of what the tight ends bring, we might see a couple of different things with Liam Coen now calling plays.

“I thought they made some strides, I thought they made some plays. I think we can be better blocking all the way around,” Bowles said. “I thought from a pass catching standpoint – without having an Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez type – I thought those guys did a great job, particularly Cade (Otton).

“Look forward to Payne (Durham) – he’s a big red zone target, we could use him more. Ko (Kieft) we didn’t use as much as we did the year before, I think Liam (Coen) has some things in mind for him that he can go back to what he was doing before, and I think it’ll help, but it never hurts to get another guy in the room.”

Bucs Interviewed 9 Tight Ends At The NFL Scouting Combine

While this is not a great year for the position in terms of quantity or quality, Tampa Bay did interview nine tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine. Here is the list that Pewter Report compiled from our interviews in Indianapolis. Florida State’s Jaheim Bell, Washington’s Devin Culp and Ohio State’s Cade Stover all had formal interviews with the Bucs.

Kansas State TE Ben Sinnott – Photo by: USA Today

Florida State TE Jaheim Bell
Washington TE Devin Culp
Ohio State TE Cade Stover
Kansas State TE Ben Sinnott
Penn State TE Theo Johnson
Minnesota TE Brevyn Spann-Ford
Arizona TE Tanner McLachlan
Iowa TE Erick All
Michigan TE A.J. Barner

Sinnott said he had a lot of contact with the Bucs at the Senior Bowl in addition to his informal meeting with Tampa Bay at the NFL Scouting Combine.