In 2021, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed up their victory in Super Bowl LV with a stunning offseason of roster management. Despite facing a long list of potential free agency defections among core players, General Manager Jason Licht and company managed to bring back every Super Bowl starter and nearly every key role player as well. The result was a loaded depth chart that gave Licht and the Buccaneers a lot of freedom on draft weekend.
Tampa Bay is in something of a similar situation a year later, having successfully retained Chris Godwin, Ryan Jensen, Carlton Davis, Leonard Fournette, Will Gholston, Aaron Stinnie, Blaine Gabbert, Giovani Bernard and a few others. In addition, quarterback Tom Brady followed up his apparent decision to retire in late January with the news 40 days later that he would in fact play for the Buccaneers in 2022. That revelation came right before the start of free agency and undeniably played a role in the aforementioned success in bringing back core players. The Bucs also did a little more in free agency with outside players than they had the year before, landing safeties Keanu Neal and Logan Ryan and wide receiver Russell Gage while also trading for guard Shaq Mason.
The roster is, once again, loaded and Tom Brady is still at the helm. Still, no team is ever completely the same from one year to the next – the 2020 and 2021 Bucs came about as close as you could get – and so no two draft strategies are ever the same. The Buccaneers did lose both of their starting guards, Ali Marpet to retirement and Alex Cappa to free agency, and as of yet have not re-signed either Ndamukong Suh or Rob Gronkowski. Hard-hitting safety Jordan Whitehead got a well-deserved payday with the Jets, while tight end O.J. Howard went to Buffalo and running back Ronald Jones joined the Chiefs.
So 2021 presents a somewhat different landscape for Licht as he prepares to lead his team’s draft efforts. It’s a little easier to spot a hole here or there on the depth…