ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter just notified the collective football world of some big news that potentially could prove to be a boon for the Bucs.

Former Cowboys and Dolphins free-agent center Connor Williams, who is coming off season-ending knee surgery, expects to be ready for the start of the season and is in discussions with multiple teams about where to play in 2024. He plans to pick his new team before training camp…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 18, 2024

Bucs Offensive Line Still Has A Massive Question Mark

Bucs OL Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Following the 2023 NFL season, Bucs leadership determined that the offensive line needed improvement at two key spots. The team drafted Graham Barton out of Duke to upgrade at center over last year’s starter Robert Hainsey. At left guard the team allowed both players who started last year (Aaron Stinnie and Matt Feiler) go to free agency. In their place the Bucs signed veterans Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson.

In stark contrast to the investment Tampa Bay put into Barton (a first-round draft pick), the Bucs didn’t risk much with either the Opeta or Bredeson signings. Both players were brought in on one-year deals. Bredeson received $1.75 million in guaranteed money on a $3 million deal. Opeta got just $1.375 million total, of which only $650k was guaranteed.

Combined, Opeta and Bredeson have 2,998 career snaps and 36 starts. Neither player has ever stood out to earn a starting job through a combined nine seasons of play. In short, the Bucs are betting that between the two they can provide adequate play in a weak link system when neither has shown the ability to provide that level of performance for sustained periods.

Opeta’s best season was 2021 when he earned a 72.9 blocking grade from Pro Football Focus over 229 snaps. Using a simple weighted regression model his career blocking, run blocking and pass blocking grades are 53.6, 54.9 and 58.0, respectively. Bredeson has yet to record an even average season. His most consistent was 2022 when he posted a 57.5 overall grade. Using the same weighting method, his career grades are 50.3 overall, 55.8 run block and 46.1 pass block.

Connor Williams Presents Huge Opportunity

Free agent Center Connor Williams – Photo by: USA Today

Compared to the current options in Opeta and Bredeson, Connor Williams represents a huge upgrade. While he most recently played center for the Dolphins, Williams has over 3,500 career snaps at left guard with several above average seasons there for the Cowboys. He posted a 71.2 overall grade in 2020 and a 75.2 grade in 2021 playing on the left side. More recently he graded out at 78.4 and 86.5 playing for the Dolphins in an offense that is a cousin to the system the Bucs will run in 2024.

Williams’ career 97.8 pass block efficiency is a full point better than Bredeson’s and 2.3 points better than Opeta’s. Over the course of 700 pass blocks in a season that is the difference between allowing 25 quarterback pressures versus 38-54.

If the Bucs are serious about returning to the playoffs and advancing further than last year, Williams is a quality player available late in the offseason that does not come around very often.

Brad Spielberger wrote of Williams for Pro Football Focus earlier in the year, “Williams started his career with the Dallas Cowboys at left guard and blossomed in Miami at center, thriving as a run blocker in Mike McDaniel’s zone blocking scheme where he was able to quickly get to the second level and lead the way. While he doesn’t have the world’s strongest anchor in a phone booth, his fast first step off the line enables him to seal off defenders on the backside of runs by getting in position.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Williams unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in Week 14, which will negatively impact his free agent market as his recovery process coincides with the beginning of free agency in March.” He projected Williams would secure a three-year $22.5 million contract.

Given how late in the offseason we are it is much less likely that Williams will find that multi-year deal available at an APY he would be agreeable to. It’s probable outcome here is that Williams gets a one-year deal to show he is healthy and uses it as a springboard for a larger deal to be signed in 2025.

The Bucs can offer Williams the play time opportunity in a system he should perform well in playing for a team that currently has the longest active postseason appearance streak in the NFC. The Bucs need to jump on this opportunity now. In doing so they will shore up one of the few roster holes the team has and improve the odds that their roster and their team improves.