The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were looking to make a deep run in the playoffs in 2024 after barely scraping by in the regular season to win the NFC South but were unfortunately knocked out by the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card round.

Todd Bowles talks with the referees during the second half of the N.F.L. game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The season has wrapped up for the Buccaneers for quite some time now, and they have already begun to turn their attention to the offseason as they prepare for 2025. The Bucs will be ushering in a new offensive coordinator for another season as Liam Coen left to become the Jaguars’ head coach. However, they will have some continuity as they hired from within promoting former pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard to Coen’s former role with the team.

Most of the coaching has been figured out, so now it is time for the front office and coaching staff to get down and dirty in figuring out how to piece together their roster to improve in areas that were issues this season. The Bucs have the foundation to be a contending team in the league, but they are a few missing pieces away from that actually becoming a reality — which is why ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler sees them as a team heading on the right track but with moves to make in order to get to the highest of heights.

“The Buccaneers are in the mix in the NFC, which is why investing in a few defensive players would be prudent. The Bucs made their Super Bowl run five years ago with a dominant pass rush and multiple corners with man-to-man ability,” Fowler wrote. “Adding to both positions either in free agency or high in the draft will give coach Todd Bowles more flexibility in key matchups. Among key free agents to re-sign include wide receiver Chris Godwin, who seems like a Buc for life, and surprisingly good guard Ben Bredeson. Tampa Bay can save $4.5 million against the cap by releasing safety Jordan Whitehead.”

The Buccaneers curently have a young team after back-to-back seasons of playing guys who they drafted after going all-in during the Tom Brady years with veterans. The same Brady-era things that touched the roster also spilled over into the salary cap as the Bucs have had to fight through a couple seasons of being one of the worst teams in this area. Now, Tampa Bay has some wiggle room with their cap space and can release a player, such as the aforementioned Whitehead, in order to expand how much they have to spend.

Fowler is spot on in that the Bucs can take care of the offense relatively easy this Summer as long as they hold onto Godwin and Bredeson in free agency, and he is also correct in identifying two key areas of need in the secondary and pass rush. Whether the Bucs address these two areas in the draft, free agency or trade (see: Myles Garrett) it won’t matter unless they are able to put together a complete roster much like they had going back a few seasons ago.

It will be important for Todd Bowles and company to realize what went wrong with the team last year and make a concerted effort to make sure that the same things that plagued them this past season don’t replicate themselves once again if they have any hopes of reaching the playoffs and possibly even their second Super Bowl in five seasons.