Buccaneers Observer

Happy birthday to Ralph! He can now buy that Julio Jones jersey he's always wanted. A mix of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Jones can make an impact in a deep wide receiver room. His hamstring injury is healed and he's ready to chase a ring with Tom Brady. Other teams interested in signing Jones included the Packers, the Saints and the Colts. A call from Tom Brady sealed the deal.  

Bucs also bring in TE Kyle Rudolph. Similar in size to Gronk, although not as bulky, he's also a great blocker. Between Jones and Rudolph, they may collectively replace Gronk's skillset.  

Chris Godwin, who was initially not scheduled to return until mid-season, has miraculously been cleared for training camp thanks to TB12.   

Could the Bucs' offense become more run heavy this year with Leonard Fournette as a bell-cow back? Ralph makes the case.  

Vita Vea is shoring up his pass rush skills, furthering Ralph's theory that we may shift our defensive focus to the pass.

Rob Gronkowski has officially announced his retirement. The legend put out a statement on social media. His absence leaves a huge hole in the Buccaneers offense that cannot be filled.  Ndamukong Suh said on an appearance on ESPNLive's NFL2 that it was unlikely he was returning to the Buccaneers: "It looks like the Bucs are out of the picture." He was a stud on defense next year, and like Gronk, the team is going to miss his presence.  Ralph rewatches the 2021 season. Suh was among the best on defense, along with Mike Edwards. On offense, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Gronk were total gamechangers.

The NFL released the schedule last week. The Buccaneers have five primetime games once again, although theirs is one of the toughest. The schedule includes a 9:30 a.m. game in Munich, Germany against the Seahawks. We'll match up against the NFC West and AFC North this year.  Ndamukong Suh may sign with another team this year. The Browns and Raiders are potential landing spots, but the Bucs are not out of the running either. The Buccaneers signed three players after rookie minicamp, including WR Kameron Brown, DL Mike Greene and TE J.J. Howland. The team cut DL Kobe Smith and WR Austin Watkins to make room on the roster.  The New York Post reports Drew Brees is leaving NBC after a year, to which Brees tweeted he is undecided what this year holds for him, also stating playing is a possibility. Those close to him say that's not a possibility, FWIW.

The Buccaneers shocked Bucs nation by trading away their first-round pick in the NFL Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They gained the first overall pick in the second round and selected DE Logan Hall. In another surprising move, they picked up G Luke Goedeke at with the 57th pick. In Round 3, they snagged RB Rachaad White. With the first pick in the 4th Round they selected TE Cade Otton. Jason Licht triggered the Bucs fan base by selecting a punter with the 28th pick in the 4th Round, Jake Camarda. (Is it safe to say Bradley Pinion is out of a job?) Round 5 brought us CB Zyon McCollum. Round 6 brought us another tight end in Ko Kieft. With the 27th pick in the 7th Round the Buccaneers selected LSU LB Andre Anthony.

Jason Licht and Co. have done a phenomenal job in years past of building a team and acquiring depth that we are now, for the second year in a row, drafting the best available player rather than drafting for need. As you know, we do not follow college and therefore are ill equipped to evaluate players coming into the draft.   

However, we can look at the Buccaneers roster and tell you where we are due for an upgrade. The most obvious place, in our opinion, is at the tight end position. We *hope* Rob Gronkowski has a gentleman's agreement with Jason Licht that he is coming back but will only sign after OTAs, etc. BUT in the event that's not the case, we have a serious dearth of talent at the tight end position. Cam Brate and Codey McElroy are the only tight ends on the roster. Any tight end the Buccaneers draft would have to be a blocker first. If we don't draft a tight end, it would indicate to us that the front office has a high degree of confidence that Gronk is coming back.   

The next position where we could potentially spend a draft pick is at running back. The Buccaneers secured Leonard Fournette this off-season and he is set to be the starter. However, he's benefitted the last two seasons from the one-two punch of Ronald Jones. Rojo became a free agent this offseason and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. This year, Fournette has Giovanni Bernard, Ke'Shawn Johnson and Kenyon Barner. Despite Barner being a three-time Super Bowl champ, the talent drop off after Fournette is steep. What do we do if Fournette gets hurt? Spending draft capital at the position makes sense.  

This draft is stacked in the trenches, and the Bucs could use some depth at defensive line. We are still unsure if Ndamukong Suh will be back, but in any event another stud defensive lineman can't hurt. We have Vita Vea, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Will Gholston and Pat O'Connor. But one injury to any of those and we're in trouble. In the event Suh doesn't come back, we need to replace his talent stack. Defensive line is a position where an upgrade would be useful.  

In this draft's installment of Know Your Enemy: 

- The Carolina Panthers are expected to draft Kenny Pickett at quarterback with the sixth overall pick. 

- The Atlanta Falcons are expected to go with a wide receiver at the eighth pick. 

- The New Orleans Saints are expected to draft either a tackle or defensive lineman with the 16th pick.

Ralph is uneasy about the coaching change at One Buc Place. Between Todd Bowles' win-loss record and penchant for firing underlings, Ralph is hesitant about celebrating the move. Molly would agree but for the culture and staff installed under Bruce Arians being mostly in-tact. How much say will Bowles have in the day-to-day of the team, including the offense? What about personnel decisions? There are a lot of unknowns.  We discuss the additions of Keanu Neal, Logan Ryan, Pat O'Connor, Giovanni Bernard, Gronk's status, and more!

In a move that shocked the football world, Bruce Arians announced he would step down as head coach of the Buccaneers, moving to a position in the front office. Todd Bowles will secede him as the new head coach. The Buccaneers made it official by giving Bowles a five-year contract. BA will stay within the organization as a Senior Football Consultant.  The Glazers announced during the press conference today BA would be inducted into the team's Ring of Honor this season.  BA's announcement has resurrected speculation there was a rift between Brady and BA, although BA once again rejected that assertion during his press conference.  Bowles will still call plays for the defense, but Larry Foote and Kacy Rodgers will serve as co-defensive coordinators.   The team also brought back backup QB Ryan Griffin today.

Free agency continues and the Buccaneers have locked up two key free agents: Leonard Fournette and William Gholston. They've also signed OL Fred Johnson, a former Bengal, and T Josh Wells.  The Bucs have not yet reached agreements with Ndamukong Suh and Rob Gronkowski, although they are reportedly in talks with both. JPP still remains a free agent, as is Gio Bernard, Pat O'Connor, Steve McClendon. The defensive line is currently a little thin, and it remains to be seen whether the Bucs will fill the gaps through free agency or the draft.  The Buccaneers lost Ronald Jones II to the Kansas City Chiefs. While Rojo showed promise at times, he failed to make himself non-expendable at the Bucs.  Antonio Brown continues to act a fool, this time with an Instagram model who he claims owes him $5,000.

This free agency period is bananas. The Buccaneers re-sign stud C Ryan Jensen. They bring in Shaq Mason in a trade with the Patriots (an absolute steal, btw). The Bucs sign S Logan Ryan, a Tom Brady guy. They also bring in Russell Gage with a phone call from Tom. Breshad Perriman is back. Chris Godwin is now under contract. Shaq Barrett and Mike Evans restructure their contracts to give us some wiggle room, and Cam Brate takes a paycut.  We did lose several guys. S Jordan Whitehead went to the Jets for $7 million a year (a two-year deal). The Bills snagged TE OJ Howard on a one-year prove-it deal. G Alex Cappa, of course, went to Cincinnati the first day of free agency.  The Buccaneers have some notable holes to fill and free agents still unsigned. The most pressing will be Ndamukong Suh and Will Gholston on the defensive line. The running back room is also an area of concern. Leonard Fournette indicates he wants to get paid, and as we know, Bruce Arians does not like to pay running backs. However, it seems like Ezekiel Elliot contracts are going the way of the do-do bird, so the market may not meet Lenny's expectations.  The tight end room is also empty, with only Brate and Codey McElroy under contract, but Gronk is expected to return. A fourth tight end will likely be signed before the season begins.  Deshaun Watson signed a monster contract with the Browns in a moved that shocked the NFL world. The Browns were out per media reports. Watson was meeting with the Saints and Falcons, who seemed like the final contenders. The Browns swooped in with a record breaking fully guaranteed contract and draft picks galore that the Texans and Watson couldn't refuse. The remainder of the NFC South now has to grapple with quarterback drama for the near future (lol).