The team is heading into an intriguing offseason, leaving us uncertain whether they’re aiming for one last shot or embarking on a rebuild. Retaining Coach Todd Bowles has added to the ambiguity. Hopefully, the additions made through free agency, the draft, and potential trades will clarify the team’s direction moving forward. Which idea below would make you feel a little better about the future of the team?
Option 1: All in for this Season
Additions: Maxx Crosby (Trade – Edge), Jacob Rodriguez (2nd Rd – MLB), Tyler Allgeier (FA- Running Back)
Plan: Trade a 1st and 3rd round pick for Crosby and select Rodriguez in the 2nd round. Bucs also sign Allgeier in free agency. Note that we lose Evans in free agency. Much of the salary cap is used up by Crosby. This gives us our dominant pass rusher and a young LB that can hopefully give us snaps immediately. Allgeier can be a great compliment to Bucky Irving.
Option 2: All in with Less Risk
Additions: Trey Hendrickson (FA – Edge), Sonny Styles (1st Rd – MLB), Jordyn Brooks (Trade – MLB)
Plan: Sign Hendrickson in free agency and draft Styles with our 1st round pick. We trade our 3rd round pick to the Dolphins for Brooks. Evans is lost in free agency.
Option 3: Adding Depth without giving away Draft Picks
Additions: Devin Lloyd (FA – MLB), Odafe Oweh (FA – Edge), Kenyon Sadiq (1st Rd – TE)
Plan: Sign both Lloyd and Oweh in free agency, and draft standout tight end Sadiq in the 1st round. Evans departs in free agency.
Option 4: The Jason Licht Approach
Additions: Keldric Faulk (1st Rd – Edge), Mike Evans (FA – WR), Lavonte David (FA – MLB), Boye Mafe (FA – Edge)
Plan: Retain both Evans and David, but also add Seahawks’ Edge, Mafe. Draft potential in 1st round with Faulk from Auburn.
Obviously there will be more draft picks and free agent additions, but these are ideas of how things could play out this offseason.
4. Licht approach, but Evans 50/50 to leave in FA, Dean leaves in FA, LVD retires. Roll with draft picks and two/three mid-level FAs.
Bowles will have to do more with less again, Bucs start slow and stay slow, 7-10 is about right for a team going pretty much nowhere until the owners come to their senses and get a new HC and a new DC, which will kick off the 2027 season.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
It’s time for Lavonte David to retire. I also don’t see why Evans wouldn’t be back for us. He missed half the season last year and his most recent seasons are littered with missed games. We have the unit to sustain that but most don’t.
They are most likely to adopt something like the Licht Approach #4
Options 5 John Schneider approach
You know JS of the Seahawks deviated from what he normally does and overhauled the entire offense in the 2025 off season and actually drafted a guard in round 1 when he has been on record saying you can find starting guards in rounds 3 and 4. Meanwhile most of the guards JS has drafted in rounds 3, 4 and 5 in recent memory have been mixed bags or straight up disappointments (eg Haynes). But taking a guard in round 1 like Zabel proved to be a master stroke as well letting Metcalf, Geno, Lockcett and others go to other teams to overhaul the offense.
Bucs need to USE this approach.
DO NOT re-sign Dean.
Do not bring back Hall and let LVD retire. No point bringing back Gaines as he has reached his limit.
Go overhaul the defense with fresh new faces like the Seahawks did for their 2025 offense. Their defense was set but their offense was the albatross. Sounds familiar? For the Bucs the defense is what is holding this team back.
Hard to argue with that!
well Evans and David should be back if they play next year.
the question comes, are we an edge player away from a Superbowl. If so, you go get Maxx Crosby.
if not, you probably just "Eat" 2026 given poor coaching staff and try to continue to build through the draft.
Personally, i dont think Maxx Crosby moves the needle for us. Maybe gets us to 10-7; depends on how offensive play calling is really. And then if you get Crosby but then lose Mike Evans, you are probably right back at 8-9.
I think you need to have a better understanding of what a complete rebuild is.
We are already one of the youngest teams in the league. A rebuild would mean we are moving on from Baker, finding a trading partner for Godwin, not re-signing Mike or David, cutting ties with Otton, letting Dean go, White go, and maybe finding a trading partner for Vea.
We aren't doing a complete rebuild with Licht as our general manager. Doesn't make any sense at all.
Evans - back if he wants
David - retires or they still move forward getting ILBs and he plays for a low deal
Godwin and Vea stay
Dean is gone
Otton is gone
Restructure those you can
Mid-level FA at the edge or ILB
Many of you have expressed concerns that we won’t be willing to take risks or that this is just a “lame duck” year. But do we really believe that the Bucs management shares that view? It’s hard to imagine the Bucs retaining Bowles if they were planning on a rebuild or another offseason focused solely on adding a few draft picks to a team that clearly needs more talent.
They must believe their window of opportunity is still open. Anything else would be illogical. That’s why I think we might see them take some risks this season. If they don’t, it would be a frustrating display of a team going through the motions, repeating the same strategies that haven’t yielded success in building talent.
Many of you have expressed concerns that we won’t be willing to take risks or that this is just a “lame duck” year. But do we really believe that the Bucs management shares that view? It’s hard to imagine the Bucs retaining Bowles if they were planning on a rebuild or another offseason focused solely on adding a few draft picks to a team that clearly needs more talent.
They must believe their window of opportunity is still open. Anything else would be illogical. That’s why I think we might see them take some risks this season. If they don’t, it would be a frustrating display of a team going through the motions, repeating the same strategies that haven’t yielded success in building talent.
One explanation that might not be illogical:
The Bucs (Glazers and Licht) see the team as needing a year or two to fully transition away from older, high dollar players. Evans, David, Vea, Godwin, Dean. The "$20 million contracts" in the Fab 5. And maybe even trade someone like AWJ. Especially to clear cap and cash knowing the Mayfield & Diaby deals coming up.
In that scenario it might, hypothetically speaking, make sense to the owners and even the GM to stay with Bowles in 2026. Here are a few reasons. He's already under contract. He did okay with less before (2025 not so much) and maybe the difficulty of hiring a very good coach now, while in the transition described above.
Alldway says the Fab 5 "cash budget" argument is bullspit and he might be right. If he is right AND the Bucs think the "window of opportunity is till open" then we will see them be aggressive in upcoming FA, especially as compared to recent years prior.
If SR is right and the scenario described above (and in the Fab 5) is close to accurate then we will see modest FA and build through draft.
let's see how it goes
One thing we already know: the Glazers and Licht did NOT require Bowles to TRULY overhaul the defensive staff or to give up play calling
@bucsbits - that might be the gameplan. But geez, how do you sell that to the fans. This team built a winning culture with the help of Tom Brady. They’ve been lucky enough to barely hold on to that the last few years. Another run of losses like they had the last 9 games, and that winning culture is all but gone. Completely starting over to build that back up is super difficult.
There are just a lot of malcontents here in our fanbase. There is no sign internally or otherwise that we are going through an overhaul or using Bowles as a placeholder. Tampa's ownership wants to win now.
But geez, how do you sell that to the fans.
Honestly, I dont know that most fans are following that closely. Some fans (many fans?) thought the Bucs were a SB contender in the 2025 pre-season and it started well, so will those fans see the 2025 team as being robbed by injury (ie 2026 is an easy rebound if healthy)? Not sure. I think the collapse and the role of coaching stands out and dim any big hopes for 2026, but maybe that is not the thought for most?
The Bucs could have easily been 5-12 or may 6-11, but then again they could've also have been 10-7. I think to comes down to how they start 2026 because hope builds all offseason. The 2025 offseason began with the Bucs needing to draft all defense to compete. It ended with "SB contender" dreams even though the draft and FA did not really fix the LBs or the pass rush. Reddick was "hope" though! The first few games probably misled many. Turns out 1 point underdog wins are not quite as "lucky" as 1 point division losses are "bad."