Buccaneers' Biggest Keys to Having Successful NFL Offseason

Whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a successful offseason or not comes down to one thing: Tampa Bay needs to nail its quarterback replacement for Tom Brady. 

All of the other offseason pieces will fall into place once the new quarterback is installed, but until then, the decision will be under a microscope. 

Tampa Bay can go the veteran quarterback route again to keep its best shot of capturing a Super Bowl title, or it can start fresh with a younger signal-caller and a new set of weapons around him. 

The offensive direction taken by Bruce Arians and his staff could determine how it views free agents at running back, wide receiver and offensive line. 

Tampa Bay has the potential to win a wide-open NFC South in 2022 if it makes the right offseason calls, but a bad decision at quarterback could set the franchise back in what could be an important year. 

Nail Tom Brady's Replacement

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Tampa Bay won the Tom Brady sweepstakes two years ago, and it resulted in a title in his first season with the franchise. 

A second title in three years does not seem to be on the radar right now, but it could be if the right replacement is brought in. 

Tampa Bay could go after Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or Jimmy Garoppolo on the offseason trade market. All three of them have Super Bowl experience, but only Garoppolo is 100 percent available. 

The Buccaneers may have to play a waiting game for Rodgers or Wilson, and that may hurt their offseason planning because there are other big decisions to be made on Chris Godwin and others. 

The acquisition of an experienced signal-caller would likely place the Bucs at the top of most NFC South projections, and it would place it back in the mix for the NFC Super Bowl berth. 

Atlanta could go through some offensive transition, and Matt Ryan will be one year older. Meanwhile, Carolina's quarterback situation was a mess in 2021, and New Orleans needs to overhaul the position as well. 

If Tampa Bay finds a consistent veteran quarterback, it should win a majority of its divisional games in 2022. 

If not, the Bucs would drop back to a more level playing field with either Kyle Trask or a high pick from the 2022 NFL draft under center. 

The latter path opens the door for a potential rebuild and the concession that 2022 could be a transitional season, and that may not be what the Bucs want after succeeding with the Brady signing. 

Revamp the Offensive Skill Position Talent

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Tampa Bay could go in two directions with its non-quarterback offensive decisions. 

It could run it back for one more year with Leonard Fournette and Chris Godwin, or it could get younger at the skill positions with an eye on the future. 

Godwin seems like the most likely player to come back on a short-term deal because of the torn ACL he suffered late in the 2021 regular season. 

Godwin's prospective suitors on the free-agent market may not be willing to pay what he wants because of the injury. 

The Bucs could use that to their favor and bring Godwin back for one more year to partner Mike Evans. That would allow a fully healthy Godwin to land a big deal next offseason.

Fournette may be more open to signing a multi-year contract elsewhere to maximize the prime of his career. The Bucs might be outpriced from his market, especially if they commit money to Godwin for another year. 

Tampa Bay could look to the NFL draft as a way to replace some of its outgoing players. The franchise has not taken offensive skill players on the first two days of the selection process lately. 

That may change so that the running back and wide receiver rooms are restocked to work with the new quarterback.

There is also the lingering question of what Rob Gronkowski will do with his future, and whether he comes back could dictate the draft process.

Re-signing Godwin and adding one or two young players at the front end of the draft should help the Bucs revamp the skill positions to help whomever starts under center in Week 1. 

Use Franchise Tag on Carlton Davis

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Tampa Bay might have to win more of its games on defense in 2022 with Brady gone and the offense possibly looking much different. 

The Bucs could use the franchise tag on Carlton Davis to keep the same secondary depth from a year ago. 

Davis could partner once again with Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean inside a defense that has the potential to be one of the best in the NFL. 

Vita Vea, Shaquil Barrett, Lavonte David and Devin White are all under contract and Davis' potential return would help the back end of the defense keep the high quality across all position groups. 

Tampa Bay could use the franchise tag strategy to keep Davis around for at least one more year to prove he can be a consistent No. 1 corner.

If that is the case, and he stays healthy in 2022, he could be rewarded with a massive deal next offseason. 

The usage of the franchise tag on Davis would allow the Bucs to commit more money to a veteran quarterback and then add depth on defense throughout the draft. 

Re-signing Davis to a massive multi-year contract might indicate that the Bucs are willing to commit to a younger quarterback because of the money involved. The Bucs have just over $2 million in cap space available, per Over the Cap. 

That number will grow a bit when Brady's deal comes off the books, but the Bucs will not have an exorbitant amount of cash to spend, which is why the franchise tag should come into play with Davis.