Bucs Best and Worst Offseason Moves
Roster building in the NFL is always a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s just the nature of the best, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not immune to either.
The Sporting News recently released its list of every team's best and worst offseason moves. Buc general manager Jason Licht has done a tremendous job in building a competitive team.
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“The Buccaneers landed the versatile offensive lineman Graham Barton in the first round as the much-needed delayed successor to Ryan Jensen,” TSN writes. “Barton can be in the middle to them what Tristan Wirfs has been outside.”
Barton is widely considered one of the best offensive line prospects in the entire draft. Even NFL.com’s Chad Reuter raved about him.
"The Buccaneers landed the best center in the draft, a much-needed addition for a team that wants to win a fourth straight NFC South title and make a deeper playoff run this time around," Reuter said.
"Barton can play any spot on the offensive line despite his average length. Also, he possesses the intelligence to handle calling protections and making adjustments in the middle of the line. There are many accolades in his future, including a spot on the 2024 All-Rookie Team."
Much is expected of Barton, but the Bucs made the right move for the future of their offensive line.
That’s the good. Now, the bad.
“The Buccaneers are rebuilding their pass-rush and linebacking corps around venerable Lavonte David, so they took a flier on Randy Gregory for depth,” TSN wrote. “They are bound to get little return from him at one year, $3 million.”
Gregory has been an enigma since being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. The former second-round pick is on his third team in three years and his fourth team overall. He missed all of 2017 suspended for multiple failed drug tests. In eight years in the NFL, he has never played a full season.
We can see why TSN says this is the worst move of the offseason for a Bucs team trying to improve on last year’s success.