You can pencil in Robinson Muhammad and Anzalone as starters:
DL: Vea, Kancey, Robinson, Roberts, Simmons, Jones
ILB: Anzalone, Dennis, Jackson
OLB: Diaby, Muhammad, Nelson, Walker, Kamara
CB: Morrison, McCollum, Hayes
NCB: Parrish, Roberts
S: Winfield Jr, Smith, Killebrew, Wisdom, Banks
Licht definitely needs to secure another starting caliber ILB, edge rusher to have come off the bench as the third guy, and boundary CB. Do that and the Bucs would be ready for the draft.
Look at the salary cap of the Bucs at www.spotrac.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/overview.
The Bucs are already over the cap without the 5 FA's signed by the Bucs in the equation.
The Bucs need to renegotiate contracts to get under the salary cap for those 5 free agents.
Then comes the money that needs to be set aside for the draft class.
this is very weak defense, and bowles makes it even worse. I see no hope. The only hope is him getting fired soon!
On paper the Bucs have signed enough players that are ham and eggers and have stopped the bleeding it seems. But to be better defensively the Bucs need a lot more still.
Right now if according to PR that Anzalone is taking over LVD money back spot that means you need another ILB to compete with Dennis and Jackson which I suspect the Bucs will be signing another veteran.
On boundary CB the Bucs definitely need a veteran that can challenge McCollum and Morrison which also allows Parrish to focus on locking down NCB. Safety is pretty much set when you have Winfield Jr, Smith, Killebrew, Wisdom and Banks. Unless the Bucs can land another veteran safety on a deal or great value in the draft that is the only position I do not think the Bucs invest in at all.
Of the remaining edge rushers the Bucs should aggressively sign another vet because signing one veteran edge rusher the last few off seasons has not worked out. So Licht needs to double up on veteran edge rushers with one more signing. Then, draft another edge rusher.
So hypothetically it would look like this:
Diaby
Muhammad
Veteran #2
2026 Drafted edge rusher
Walker
That would be your top five with Diaby and Walker your only hold overs.
We have no money as Licht continues to overpay for average players. When is the Teflon Don ever going to get any criticism?
You can pencil in Robinson Muhammad and Anzalone as starters:
DL: Vea, Kancey, Robinson, Roberts, Simmons, Jones
ILB: Anzalone, Dennis, Jackson
OLB: Diaby, Muhammad, Nelson, Walker, Kamara
CB: Morrison, McCollum, Hayes
NCB: Parrish, Roberts
S: Winfield Jr, Smith, Killebrew, Wisdom, Banks
Licht definitely needs to secure another starting caliber ILB, edge rusher to have come off the bench as the third guy, and boundary CB. Do that and the Bucs would be ready for the draft.
The plan comes into focus. They got rid of the dead cap (22-25) and then this year and next are about transitioning off some of the vets, all while making only modest, short FA commitments.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Diaby and, of course, Mayfield contracts coming.
I definitely get the angst with no big name FA deal, but on balance Licht has done a pretty good job so far of finding guys who would take short deals and who should make an impact. Heck, the Killebrew/Smith additions may be the most impactful if you just think of how many points our ST gave up last year both DIRECTLY and INDIRECTLY by terrible field position.
I think the Defense so far is improved over last year. I like the Robinson & Muhammad signings a lot. Anzaolne is certainly an upgrade.
Still a lot of room for improvement, but on paper its fair to say they are better.
Not putting Mohammad down because he definitely has a MOTOR and some moves, but you have to wonder a bit about 11 sacks. Here are some highlights. You can hear Aikman and Colinsworth crediting his play but in a "what he may lack in talent he makes up for in effort" way. Quite a number of his sacks are also coming against back ups, like a strip sack against us where he beats Heck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wg8ISaimtM
not sure how he will do with no Hutchinson on the other side, but he's an upgrade over what we had I guess.
We have no money as Licht continues to overpay for average players. When is the Teflon Don ever going to get any criticism?
It is risky to give out money to a lot of ham and eggers when the Bucs need 1-2 impact guys to help carry a solid but not spectacular squad. Licht definitely is channeling his inner Patriot way philosophy right now.
I definitely get the angst with no big name FA deal, but on balance Licht has done a pretty good job so far of finding guys who would take short deals and who should make an impact. Heck, the Killebrew/Smith additions may be the most impactful if you just think of how many points our ST gave up last year both DIRECTLY and INDIRECTLY by terrible field position.
Special teams was a big issue but Bowles should have not let it spin out of control to sink the season. Smith is here to not only keep ST intact but to ensure players are not loafing to avoid a mid season skid again if I was to speculate.
The Bucs reworked a couple of contracts to free up million in salary cap. That is almost enough to cover the FA signings and for the draft class.
Not overly awful signings for the team. I just think this team messed up a lot with the decisions they made before these. It's a borderline mediocre team either way with bowles running the team. We all know this.
Special teams was a big issue but Bowles should have not let it spin out of control to sink the season
fair but I only meant going forward. Its an obvious think that needed to be fixed and the "fix" is pretty good (new coach, new star vet). Zero guarantees but kudos