How the Bucs Chose Mediocrity
It’s over. The Bucs team you’ve known for the last half of a decade is gone. Mike Evans, the greatest player on the offensive side of the ball in Bucs history, a guaranteed Hall of Famer, is gone. Another player of his talent and accomplishments may never come through Tampa.
On the other side of the ball, the Bucs will very likely lose another franchise legend, a guaranteed Hall of Famer, and one of the longest tenured Buccaneers in the history of the franchise.
Lavonte David will likely retire, and it’s probably time. He absolutely would have been welcomed back for year 15, and was still very much a capable defender on a defense that was struggling to find suitable personnel. It’s hard to imagine he comes back to play next season with Mike Evans out of the picture.
Evans, on the other hand, has shown very few signs of slowing down aside from the lingering hamstring issues, and was still a critical – the most critical – part of the offense. Over his twelve year career, the Bucs are 7-14 in games that Mike Evans has missed, including a 4-8 record in the twelve games he’s missed in the last two seasons. And it seems he took a pay cut to leave the team.
That’s right.
A franchise legend, who could very well finish in the top 10 in all time receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, takes less money to go play for a team he sees as better equipped to pad his Hall of Fame resume.
$6 million dollars less.
If that’s not an indictment of the direction this team is headed, then I’m not sure what is.
Surely if the Bucs were forced to save money and not bring back their Alpha WR1, then they got a significant free agent addition at a position of need at Edge rusher or Mike LB, right?
…
Jason Licht has never been a big spender in Free Agency, opting instead to build through the draft and develop the talent they bring in that way. That’s always how it’s been, even when they missed on first and second round picks during his early days with the Bucs like Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Vernon Hargreaves, Noah Spence, Roberto Aguayo, O.J. Howard, and Justin Evans, or in the retool after the Super Bowl, like Kyle Trask, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Logan Hall, and at the moment, Chris Braswell (boy, that’s a lot of straight up whiffs in the early rounds when you list it out like that…).
The Bucs have again opted not to go for a splash deal in free agency. There will be no Maxx Crosby trade, nor Trey Hendrickson signing, nor will they be patient enough to wait for budding superstar linebacker Devin Lloyd to sign for much more affordable than expected. They didn’t upgrade their tight end either, but none of this would have been a problem if Mike Evans were returning. It would be justifiable. And with requisite contract restructures for some of your superstars, you could have had both the splash move and an Evans extension. But no. You get the secret third option: Neither.
So what now?
They bring in LB Alex Anzalone, certainly an upgrade over their current situation, especially if David were to somehow return, and they were to draft another off-ball linebacker early.
They also signed RB Kenneth Gainwell, an upgrade over Rachaad White, who has essentially confirmed his departure. Gainwell was pricier than I would have liked, but nevertheless should contribute as I’m sure the backfield will be closer to a 50/50 split than it has been in the past, with returning RFA RB Sean Tucker getting even more goal-line work than before.
Tight end Cade Otton was retained, perhaps the most scrutinized free agency move of the offseason based on public reaction, though the criticism is hard to justify. He’s a hard-hat wearing, lunch pail kind of player, who’s an above average blocker, and boasts one of the lowest drop rates in the league. He signed a contract at league average value for a starting tight end. Sure, his lowlights were ugly this season, but those were extreme outliers (referring to the ball being stripped out of his hands for interceptions), and neither were particularly great throws.
The Bucs also signed QB Jake Browning to be the primary backup this season, in what is most certainly an upgrade over Teddy Bridgewater, who looked abysmal against the Rams in his lone appearance. Browning showed flashes in 2023, leading the Bengals to a 4-3 record in his seven starts, with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, but the pendulum swung the opposite direction in 2025, when he went 0-3 with 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.
Even accounting for a bad three games in 2025, Browning ranks 28th in EPA/play from 2023-2025, ahead of guys like Daniel Jones, Caleb Williams (both of whom were vastly improved in 2025 v.s. years prior), Tyler Shough, Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, Jameis Winston, Jacoby Brissett and Mac Jones, putting him in the tier of short term starters and the very best of the backup quarterbacks.
The Bucs did fill a gap depth-wise, bringing in DL A’Shawn Robinson, a journeyman with the Bucs being his 5th team in his ten year career. The expectation is that Robinson will be the top backup at every position from Nose Tackle to 5-technique, and he’ll be a massive upgrade as a run stopper over Logan Hall and Greg Gaines, while being arguably the best pass rusher of the three and having the largest frame out of all three.
The Bucs also signed Al-Quadin Muhammad, who had a career high 11 sacks last year in a surprise late career breakout after bouncing around practice squads and not appearing in a single game in 2023. However, if you watched a Lions game, he was a below average run defender, and at times it felt like a lot of his sacks were cleaning up after Aidan Hutchison (weird – having a top dawg pass rusher can elevate the play of those around them?? Who’da thunk it!). He’ll be another depth addition alongside Robinson
There are certainly more moves to come in free agency. They still need a backup cornerback and an edge rusher at the bare minimum. In a vacuum, all the signings they’ve made would have me optimistic.
But the Bucs are now without a true X receiver, as there are no players on the roster that match Evans frame nor his skill set, a rare combo that has quite literally changed the way the Bucs have been able to run offense for a decade plus.
They also have yet to fill arguably their biggest need over the last two seasons, and for now it appears they will rely on a significant jump from Yaya Diaby in talent development and a healthy season from Calijah Kancey. At least they’ll have better depth behind their starters than Logan Hall and Greg Gaines at minimum. While I’m not a betting man, it is a near certainty that the Bucs will be taking a pass rusher in the first round provided they do not trade back.
6-2. 3rd and 28. 4th and 14.
After a worst case scenario finish to 2025, both missing the playoffs, and being too good for a pick that would nab a top talent in the draft, the Bucs are having a severely underwhelming offseason to date, and I’m not sure there’s much left for them to do. They only have about $10.5 million left to spend according to Josh Quiepo at Pewter Report (@JoshQuiepo_NFL), and the prospects at edge rusher are fairly limited now, with 30 year old Joey Bosa as the front runner, who hasn’t played a full season since 2021, nor has he posted more than 6.5 sacks in a season since then.
It’s bleak out there right now. In just about a full calendar year, the Bucs have gone from contending to lukewarm. Much like my Miami Heat, it seems after spending a few years contending, they’re content with being just good enough. I’m not convinced it’ll be more satisfying than the lost decade of the 2010s.
