USAT: Buccs Wire audio clip

USAT: Buccs Wire

Mar 7, 2022

- - - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some difficult decisions to make in the coming days, and how they approach that process will tell us plenty about the direction the team is heading in 2022 and beyond. - For starters, they have a gaping hole at quarterback following Tom Brady’s retirement. While there’s still the slim possibility that the GOAT will return for another season, it seems highly unlikely. It also looks like the Bucs won’t be able to trade for another superstar passer like Russell Wilson, which could leave them with Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask as their best options. - The quarterback situation could impact how they approach the rest of their most daunting tasks this offseason. - Tampa Bay has a long list of pending free agents, including key starters like Chris Godwin, Carlton Davis III, Ryan Jensen, Leonard Fournette, Ndamukong Suh, Rob Gronkowski, William Gholston, Jordan Whitehead and Alex Cappa. Throw in reserves like O.J. Howard and Aaron Stinnie, and the Bucs are looking at a bare cupboard at multiple positions heading into free agency. - Godwin, Davis and Jensen are obviously the team’s top priorities, but they’ll also be the most expensive to retain. Tampa Bay could use the franchise tag to keep one of them, but that would eat up a huge chunk of their available cap space, with no flexibility to move money to future years thanks to being just a one-year tender. - The Athletic’s Greg Auman points out how much it would help the Bucs to avoid the franchise tag, using Godwin as an example: - - 2 ways Bucs can use $19.2 million in '22 cap space:1: Give Godwin franchise tag.2. Give Godwin 5/$90 million, $15m bonus, 22 cap hit $6m.Give Cappa, Whitehead 3/$24m, $7m SB, 22 cap $3.3m each.Give Fournette 3/$15m, $6m SB, 22 cap $3m.Give Gholston 2/$8m, $4m SB, 22 cap $3m. - — Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 7, 2022 - - - Giving long-term deals to top free agents like Godwin would give the Bucs far more flexibility to maneuver the salary cap and keep some of their other key players. - That said, there’s also another way the Bucs could go this offseason. - Especially when you consider the quarterback situation, the Bucs could see this as an opportunity to take somewhat of a down year in 2022, and reload for a quick bounce-back in the years following by letting their highest-priced free agents walk. It would save them a ton of cap space, and letting those guys sign big-money deals elsewhere would also land the Bucs multiple compensatory picks in the 2023 NFL draft. - If Godwin, Jensen and Davis all walk, the Bucs would likely get a third-round comp pick for each of them. Considering general manager Jason Licht’s experience working with Bill Belichick in New England, it would make sense if he followed a similar plan to the one the Patriots have been employing for years. - That mass exodus would obviously be difficult to watch, but it would allow the Bucs to re-sign their more economical free agents, while loading up on valuable draft picks to reload the roster with young talent next offseason. It would also make it easier for them to re-sign key players who are set to hit the market next year, like cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean. - There are multiple ways the Bucs could play this challenging situation over the next few weeks. How they approach it will be critical in determining whether or not they think they can be a Super Bowl contender again this year, or aim for a longer reload and a new playoff window down the road. - - List - - NFL free agency: Who should be Bucs' top priority? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Bucs Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Bucs Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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