We’ve officially reached the offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now that the Liam Coen situation is behind us the team can focus on ways to improve the roster. Free agency will open in just over a month and when it does the Bucs will be in the market to find some missing pieces for a potential Super Bowl run in 2025.

It’s crazy to think we’re already back to having that conversation when things looked so grim just a few years ago when Tom Brady retired. Rather than sink back to the depth of the league under the weight of dead money, the Bucs masterfully navigated choppy waters and are right back in contention.

The team also finally has some money to spend as well.

Taxes are still being paid as far as the Bucs taking their medicine for going all-in during the Brady era, but the worst of that hit is over. It couldn’t be better timing too, as Tampa Bay is already being named a landing spot for a top defensive free agent.

Buccaneers listed as potential landing spot for top Eagles pass rusher

ESPN’s Matt Bowen listed off the Top 50 free agents set to hit the market this offseason and the Buccaneers came up in a few different spots. Chris Godwin was listed as the No. 5 overall free agent, but another name in the Top 10 could end up entering Tampa Bay’s orbit.

Bowen listed the Bucs among the teams that could look into Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat this March.

“Sweat will enter free agency with the flexibility to play in a 3-4 or 4-3 defense. He has ties to Arizona, where his former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is running the show. Washington, New England, Tampa Bay and Tennessee could be on the radar, too,” Bowen wrote.

The Godwin piece speaks for itself, and all early signs seem to point toward the Buccaneers making a serious play to bring him back the same way they did Mike Evans last year. Finding pass rush help is among the team’s biggest offseason needs, though, which is why Sweat makes so much sense for Tampa Bay as a potential target.

Sweat is almost a MacGuffin in that the Bucs don’t specifically need him to fill their need, rather he’s a jumping off point to start looking at options. Don’t get it twisted, Sweat would be a massive addition for Todd Bowles’ defense and would add a big missing piece that we saw turn into a fatal flaw last season.

As Bowen points out, Tampa Bay won’t be the only team trying to land Sweat and the team doesn’t have unlimited funds to spend. The Bucs have around $11 million in cap space but can create more by restructuring some deals and letting players go, which could mean there’s money to spend on guys like Trey Hendrickson or Joshua Uche in free agency.

That’s a wide spectrum of players to think about, and the Bucs shouldn’t be limited to just free agents. Maxx Crosby has expressed some frustrations in Las Vegas, where John Spytek is now running the front office, and there’s an outside chance Myles Garrett becomes a potential target as well.

One way or another Tampa Bay needs to address its lack of pass rush and it can’t simply be through the draft. Jason Licht will no doubt fortify the position there, but the Bucs are in the market for a big time player and it’s clear everyone knows it.