Do you think we will be active in free agency and how much will Chris Godwin negotiations play into this?
In Jason Licht I trust, so whichever direction he and his crew go in this 2025 offseason is fine with me. If you’re asking me for a prediction, however, I would guess the Buccaneers will pursue an approach must like last year. That means starting with your own pending free agents that you hope to keep then making some mid-level surgical strikes on the free agent market. And yes, Chris, I do think the Godwin outcome will play into what happens with the rest of the roster.
Personally, if the Bucs were able to retain Godwin and Lavonte David and a few others from their own free agent list, I’d be just fine with limited free agency spending otherwise. The offense is set at most positions for 2025 and I think the handful of issues the team faces on defense can mostly be addressed in the draft and with a couple players returning to health.
According to Spotrac, the Buccaneers as currently constituted have about $5.7 million in cap space for 2025, which ranks 24th in the NFL. Yes, there are ways to increase that number and work around it; last year the Bucs faced a restricted cap situation and still managed to re-sign David, Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Chase McLaughlin and hand Tristan Wirfs a much-needed extension. The situation is far less dire this year, with Godwin and David being the main issues. Starting left guard Ben Bredeson is also a pending free agent, but the other four OL stalwarts are under contract.
The Bucs landed Bredeson on a very affordable one-year deal last spring and that worked out very well. I liked the Bryce Hall signing as well, but he suffered a season-ending injury in Week One so we’ll never know if that would have proved to be a good call. And that was about it in terms of outside additions. (A flirtation with edge rusher Randy Gregory ultimately never came to fruition.) The Bucs then nailed the draft, adding starting center Graham Barton, the NFL’s best rookie running back in Bucky Irving, a very promising wideout in Jalen McMillan and a starting slot back in Tykee Smith.
You can never guarantee that draft picks are going to work out, but I feel like Licht and his people have a pretty good track record at this point. Like most NFL G.M.’s, light would prefer to build primarily through the draft. I expect that’s the approach he will make this offseason and the…
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