Winners and Losers of NFL Free Agency in the 2023 offseason
2023 NFL Free Agency Losers: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are quickly going to revert to the franchise they were for nearly 15 years before Tom Brady came to town. With Brady retiring and a mostly old, run-down roster, Tampa Bay will be lucky to finish over .500. Now, the Buccaneers are fortunate to be in the NFC South, which will be the worst division in the NFL.
At the moment, Derek Carr is the best quarterback in the division. So, that tells you how underwhelming the quarterbacks are within the division. It is yet to be seen which quarterback the Panthers will select with the first pick, but that will be a rookie with so-so talent on the outside after trading DJ Moore to the Bears.
If Tampa Bay does not draft a quarterback, the Buccaneers will be heading into the season with Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield as the two options for the starting quarterback. Good luck with that proposition. If those are the two quarterbacks Tampa Bay indeed to go forward with, there is a better chance of Tampa Bay ending up with a top-three pick in 2023 than winning more than seven games.
This was an offense last season led by Tom Brady that could barely muster drives together each and every week. What is that offense going to look like with Mayfield or Trask at the helm? There are talented pieces like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but those two even struggled to be consistent last season, especially Evans.
In 2022, the Buccaneers went 8-9, averaged 18.4 points per game (25th in the NFL), averaged 76.9 yards rushing (last in the NFL), converted 37.4% of third downs, and finished 21st in time of possession. Barring a major offensive transformation, I do not expect these numbers to improve drastically with a downgrade at quarterback.
Tampa Bay also lost guard Shaq Mason and left tackle Donovan Smith. The left tackle had a down year in 2022, but it is still a void Tampa Bay will have to fill before next season.
Because the NFC South is so weak, it is up for grabs, but I do not think Tampa Bay has done enough to put itself in position to be legit contenders in the NFC South.
There are still a number of veteran free agents available on the market, but at this point, these are the main winners and losers of the offseason so far.