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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Monday Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Monday Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: What is Jason Licht going to change to avoid three busted draft classes in a row?

ANSWER: There is no doubt that Bucs general manager Jason Licht needs to hit home in the 2023 NFL Draft. Licht and head coach Todd Bowles need to have a draft class that resembles the 2020 class that featured a pair of Pro Bowlers in right tackle Tristan Wirfs and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Both Wirfs and Winfield started immediately as rookies and played huge roles in Tampa Bay winning Super Bowl LV. The rest of that draft class was less than stellar, with only third-round running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn and wide receiver Tyler Johnson in the fourth round hanging around in a reserve capacity.

It’s too early to say that the Bucs’ drafts in 2021 and 2022 are busts, but it’s clear that Licht hit a bunch of singles and maybe a few doubles. There are no apparent home runs in either draft class. Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, is still missing as many sacks as he’s getting. He’s not a bust, but he’s closer to Noah Spence than he is Simeon Rice.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and GM Jason Licht – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

Quarterback Kyle Trask, the second-round pick in 2021, hasn’t shown that he has what it takes to be a starting-caliber NFL quarterback. Robert Hainsey, who was selected in the third round, proved to be a competent starting center, but he’s not in Ryan Jensen’s class. At least not yet. Linebacker K.J. Britt was a fifth-round pick in 2021 and is better off on special teams than on defense.

It’s really too soon to pass any judgment on the 2022 class, other than to say that there were no evident home runs. It usually takes defensive tackles a few years to develop and Logan Hall, picked at the top of the second round, needs plenty of developing, especially in the weight room. Luke Goedeke, another second-round pick, really struggled after moving from right tackle in college to left guard. The organization still remains high on him, but he’s no lock to start in 2023.

Running back Rachaad White and tight end Cade Otton, drafted in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, show promise. White ran for 481 yards and a touchdown while averaging 3.7 yards per carry as a rookie. He also caught 50 passes for 290 yards and a pair of scores. It’s too early to suggest that he’s destined to be a 1,000-yard back, though. Otton caught 42 passes for 391 yards (9.3 avg.) and a pair of touchdowns last year. Does Otton have star potential or is he another solid starter like Cam Brate? It’s too early to tell.

Tampa Bay’s best draft pick was easily punter Jake Camarda, a fourth-round pick who averaged 48.8 yards per punt with a 41.6-yard net. Camarda downed 22 punts inside the 20 with 10 touchbacks. I’m sure Licht didn’t want his best pick being a punter. Fifth-round pick Zyon McCollum was a star on special teams, but struggled with tackling and coverage at cornerback. Sixth-round tight end Ko Kieft looks like an ideal third-string tight end and special teamer.

With salary cap issues putting the Bucs in a bit of a stranglehold this year, Licht and Bowles need to come through with a dynamic draft that finds a pair of studs like the next Wirfs and Winfield who can become impact starters. Tampa Bay has 23 unrestricted free agents and can’t re-sign them all. The Bucs are expected to be relatively quiet in free agency and will likely need to find as many as four new starters in the 2023 draft class.

Swing for the fences, Jason. Your team needs home runs – not singles.

QUESTION: When healthy, the O-line can be a strength of this team. Will the Bucs prioritize guard or offensive tackle (if they move on from Donovan Smith) early in the draft? This kind of move will not only help build the future but also help run game and whatever quality QB is under center next year.

ANSWER: Bucs general manager Jason Licht has always prioritized the offensive line. He’s drafted nine offensive linemen since 2014, with all but one starting at least a few games for Tampa Bay. It’s a pretty remarkable track record that includes finding a pair of Pro Bowlers in Tristan Wirfs (2020) and Ali Marpet (2015) and a pair of really solid starters in Donovan Smith (2015) and Alex Cappa (2018).

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs and Panthers OLB Brian Burns – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While Smith had his worst year in 2022, he was coming off his best season in 2021 after coming off a strong finish in the Bucs’ Super Bowl run in 2020. Smith is set to make $15.25 million in base salary in 2023, which is the final year of his contract, with a cap hit of $17.9 million, according to OverTheCap.com. He’ll also turn 30 and the team could save $9.95 million in cap room if Tampa Bay trades Smith or releases him.

The big question is if Smith can rebound from an awful season in which he led the Bucs with 12 penalties and surrendered six sacks. Smith went through some real serious off-the-field stuff that definitely contributed to his poor play on game days. If the team thinks he can rebound and the Bucs decide to keep Smith, it lessens the need for drafting a tackle.

If Licht and head coach Todd Bowles can’t trust Smith to return to his 2021 form, then offensive tackle becomes a high priority – possibly in the first round if Tampa Bay doesn’t sign one in free agency to replace Smith.

Guard isn’t as high of a priority, as the Bucs have some developing young players in Luke Goedeke and Nick Leverett, both of whom split time at left guard this year. Leverett is an exclusive rights free agent, but he’ll back. And with the return of Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen from a season-ending knee injury, Robert Hainsey gives Tampa Bay a third candidate to compete for the left guard job.

QUESTION: Do you guys feel confident that if Tom Brady plays again it will be in Tampa Bay?

ANSWER: Confident is a strong word, and I wouldn’t say I’m confident that if Tom Brady returns for a 24th season in the NFL. But I can’t see a better opportunity for Brady elsewhere in free agency. At least right now.

Understand one thing. If Brady wants to play one more season, he’s going to want a legitimate shot at going to the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl. The Bucs have a track record of going to the playoffs three straight years and they’ve won the division the last two years, which means a home playoff game. If Brady returns to Tampa Bay, the Bucs would be considered to be the immediate favorites to win the downtrodden NFC South again. He loves the idea of playing with Ryan Jensen, Tristan Wirfs, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and Brady has strong relationships with owner Joel Glazer and general manager Jason Licht.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

He also has a strong appreciation for head coach Todd Bowles, who – along with Licht and Glazer – stood by him when he went through a very public and painful divorce during the season. The team gave Brady 10 days off in training camp and allowed him to visit his son, Jack, in New York while attending Robert Kraft’s wedding on the Friday before the Steelers game. I think that means something to Brady, who knows that Licht and Bowles will work to revamp the roster and find a new offensive coordinator to aid the struggling offense.

The Las Vegas Raiders are coming off a six-win season. I don’t think Brady wants to play two time zones away from his children – even if he likes the idea of throwing to Davante Adams and Darren Waller and playing for Josh McDaniels. Plus, going toe-to-toe with Justin Herbert and the Chargers, as well as Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs buzzsaw twice a year is no way to ensure a trip to the postseason.

Miami makes sense due to the fact that his children now live there. But Miami is a 45-minute private plane ride away. I don’t think the Dolphins are ready to bail on Mike McDaniel after one season, especially since he led them to a Wild Card playoff berth. McDaniel’s system calls for a lot of bootlegs and waggles, and is not a great fit for the immobile Brady, who turns 46 this year. While the Dolphins have Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, their defense is not good and in disarray.

Plus, playing Buffalo and New England twice a year is not ideal, and the Jets are no easy out, either. The AFC East is much stronger than the days when Brady and the Patriots used to dominate it in the early 2000s and 2010s.

QUESTION: Do you guys think Lavonte David done in Tampa Bay?

ANSWER: This is one soon-to-be free agent situation that will be fascinating to watch. In a perfect world, Lavonte David re-signs for one year and retires as a Buccaneer. The future Bucs Ring of Honor linebacker is one of the franchise’s best players, and that’s the ending to his career that he deserves. But we don’t always get what we deserve in life.

Bucs ILBs coach Larry Foote, HC Todd Bowles and LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

David turned 33 on January 23 and is definitely in the twilight of his career. While he was perhaps the best and most consistent defender in Tampa Bay last year, the splash plays were few and far between in 2022. David did post three sacks, but had just one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. While he broke up five passes, he failed to record an interception for the second straight year.

The Bucs are cap strapped in 2023 and would like to have David back, but at a cheaper salary than the $12.5 million he made in 2022. The Rams signed veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was also 32 last year, to a five-year deal worth $50 million, which is a $10 million per season average. So, perhaps the Bucs can convince David to return for only $10 million – and perhaps a bit less due to their salary cap struggles.

But David might be tempted to see what free agency holds and if there is more money or a better chance at another Super Bowl elsewhere first before he considers re-signing with Tampa Bay. Then, David would have to weigh the options of remaining in red and pewter and retiring as a lifelong Buccaneer or finishing his career with another team.

The problem for the Bucs is that he’s irreplaceable. K.J. Britt is a good special teamer, but only an average athlete. He’s not a starting-caliber linebacker and the Bucs would have to find one in free agency or the draft to replace David. Linebacker might become the Bucs’ top need if David leaves free agency due to the importance of the position in Todd Bowles’ defense. David is the most important Tampa Bay free agent not named Tom Brady.

QUESTION: With such a high level of coaching staff consistency over the last three years, how did “team culture” manage to change so rapidly in just two? That seems more like a coaching staff not setting the right tone, and also players not buying into their messaging.

ANSWER: This is certainly a popular topic right now on social media, as Todd Bowles’ statement about changing the culture has really set some Bucs fans off. A parallel I’ll draw to illustrate how quickly a team’s culture can change is with the 2002-2003 Buccaneers. Tampa Bay won Super Bowl XXXVII with Jon Gruden coming in to replace Tony Dungy. The Bucs went 12-4 that year and beat the Raiders to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and S Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The next year, with the exact same coaching staff and pretty much the same collection of starters, the Bucs finished 7-9 and didn’t even make the playoffs. Egos ran amok following the Super Bowl, as the team relaxed into complacency and thought it could show up and win any Sunday due to its talent alone. Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was at odds with Gruden and was suspended from the team late in the season for insubordination.

After an 11-5 record and a Super Bowl in 2020 and a 13-4 record and an NFC South title in 2021, I do think some complacency set in with the 2022 Bucs players. I think Todd Bowles recognized that and even alluded to that with his “some guys are living in Super Bowl fantasy land” statement after a 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh. He’s very dialed in to his team, and I think Bowles’ statement about the Bucs’ culture needing to change is right on point. No one should be happy with an 8-9 record and a first-round loss in the playoffs.

Some Bucs players thought they could show up and win in 2022 and that it would be just like 2020 and 2021 again. It doesn’t work that way in football. Each year, a team develops its own identity. The Bucs lost some powerful voices in the locker room when Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh departed, and the presence of Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen, the fire-starter on offense, was missed in the locker room and in the huddle. At the end of the season, there were 18 players on the roster that didn’t play in Tampa Bay in 2021. That’s over one-third of the team, which is an indication of how quickly a team’s culture can change from year to year.

The 2022 Bucs were a team full of aging veterans and really young players. Some more of those aging veterans might leave in 2023 and that will continue to affect the culture. The players that return to Tampa Bay in 2023 do need to work harder and be more detail-oriented because what they did in 2022 simply wasn’t good enough.

QUESTION: With the Senior Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine and pro days in the near future, how long before the team starts interviewing offensive coordinators?

Bucs GM Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I would suspect that the Bucs should begin interviewing offensive coordinator candidates this week, especially with a total of eight offensive coordinator jobs currently open around the league. The Bucs will be competing with other teams to land the best one, whoever that winds up being. Yet, there is a chance that the process lingers into next week when all teams converge in Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl.

As always, Pewter Report will be in Mobile to cover the Senior Bowl, so we’ll stay on top of the offensive coordinator hiring process. Pewter Report published a list of candidates for the job last week that you can read by clicking here. I do know that as of Saturday, Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken had not heard from the Bucs. But I also know that Tampa Bay wants to cast a wide net on potential candidates and is not just zeroing in on Monken.

QUESTION: What’s your response to newly invested fans that paid two years worth of season tickets? Is that the kind product you’d expect to see on the field?

ANSWER: I’m a big “personal accountability” guy, so any Tampa Bay fan who bought season tickets in 2022 knew there was going to be a two-year commitment. And they also knew – or should have known – that Tom Brady was only signed through the 2022 season. Hopefully Brady returns for those fans who are committed to purchasing tickets in 2023, but even if he doesn’t, I would just say support your team. Show up and cheer for the Bucs and hope for the best.