With many marquee free-agents off the board, the Bucs need to start preparing for the NFL Draft.
Many of the NFL’s marquee free-agents are now off the board. The Bucs, could not land any big names due to their salary cap situation.
After the signing of punter Bradley Pinion to a four-year contract, the Bucs entered salary cap hell.
The question that needs to be asked following the free-agency frenzy is: Are the Bucs any better after losing players such as Kwon Alexander and Adam Humphries versus adding players they brought in such as Bradley Pinion and Deone Bucannon? The answer is a resounding no.
With Alexander San Francisco bound where he should establish himself as a perennial pro bowler, the Bucs are relying on Bucannon an undersized for a linebacker at 6-1 208 to be a hybrid at linebacker.
As the roster stands today Lavonte David, Buchanon, and a combination of Kevin Minter and Kendall Beckwith would be the starting linebackers. Not exactly the second coming of Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, and Andy Russell.
How about wide receiver? The Bucs lost Adam Humphries and added Breshad Perriman to replace him. That’s another loss for the Bucs. Humphries is coming off the best season in his career catching 71 passes, and Perriman is coming off a season in which he had only 16 catches.
Another example of not getting any better is the massive amount of money paid to the starters on the offensive line. This offensive line was horrid last year, and yet Donavan Smith, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen and Demar Dotson will make between 35 and 40 million dollars in 2019.
With all that money being paid out for the offensive line, this unit is still one of the areas that need a massive overhaul which is problematic.
The linebackers and the defensive backs are the two areas on this football team that need the most improvement. Losing Alexander made the Bucs weaker at linebacker not better. To win more games, the Bucs need better football players. They have added bodies this off-season but not better football players.
The Bucs are counting on their position coaches at all levels to be huge difference makers and be able to raise the level of play so that the Bucs can be a 10 or 11 win team this season.
Remember, Bruce Arians said that he thinks there is enough talent on this team to win right now. That answer seems like it’s inaccurate with Humphries and Alexander gone.
With the big names off the market and payroll at a minimum, the Bucs need to start turning their focus to the NFL Draft and finding talent that is going to help them win games in 2019 and beyond.
