Bucs Fans Will Be On The Edge Of Their Seats
January 29th, 2025
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
This Buc offseason is all about trying to gain an edge.
Don’t be fooled by the numbers. Todd Bowles always finds a way to stack up impressive sack totals, but anyone who watched the 2024 Bucs knows this defense lacked a consistent pass rush.
Although sacks tend to be drive killers, consistent pressure is what defensive coordinators strive for.
Major change expected off the edge, writes Ira Kaufman.
Tampa Bay’s pressure was wildly inconsistent, whether the Bucs were chasing fleet quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels or statues like Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff.
The interior of the defensive line is stout, manned by Vita Vea and upcoming star Calijah Kancey. It was Kancey who led the Bucs with 7.5 sacks last season, two years after Vea posted a team-high 6.5 sacks.
Still, it’s a lot easier to assign resources to block Kancey and Vea when opposing offensive line coaches aren’t concerned about the pocket collapsing from outside pressure. Why would they be? YaYa Diaby is young and promising, but last year proved he needs to raise his game.
There will be changes. Say goodbye to Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. The Bucs could lose Anthony Nelson in free agency.
If Will Gholston returns, it will be to provide run support on early downs. Shaq Barrett’s journey back to Tampa is a nice story, but let’s get real — he hasn’t offered much heat off the left side since 2021.
The Bucs need GM Jason Licht to channel his former edge-rush magic, Sage Ira details.
Jason Licht has tried to land quarterback hunters off the edge in the draft, to no avail. He found Barrett in free agency and traded for Jason Pierre-Paul, two of the most astute moves by a Buc GM in decades.
Together, JPP and Barrett chased Patrick Mahomes all over Raymond James Stadium en route to a Vince Lombardi Trophy.
That was then. What’s the front office going to do now?
You won’t hear Bowles publicly bemoan the absence of accomplished edge rushers on the current roster. That’s not the way he rolls. But you can bet Bowles, Licht and the Glazers are in firm agreement: finding an outside pass rush is Job 1 in the next three months.
Picking at No. 19 in the first round, the Bucs could find slim pickings in a draft that lacks a Myles Garrett or a Will Anderson at the top.
Penn State’s Abdul Carter is the consensus top edge rusher, but he’ll be long gone by the time Licht’s on the clock.
Marshall’s Mike Green and James Pearce Jr. of Tennessee appear intriguing, along with Georgia teammates Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams and Texas A&M teammates Nic Scourton and Sherman Stewart.
It’s a longshot to expect anyone except Carter to make a major impact as a rookie. So where does that leave the Bucs?
There’s a former FSU standout who will likely be available in free agency, but Philadelphia’s Josh Sweat will attract plenty of suitors besides Tampa Bay.
The Falcons, Patriots, Cardinals and Titans are some of the many teams also desperate for a dynamic edge rusher.
Sweat’s no Garrett or T.J. Watt, but he has registered 25.5 sacks, 61 QB hits and 31 tackles for loss in the past three seasons. The Eagles gave Sweat a 3-year contract extension in 2021 and Buc fans have an opportunity to see him hunting Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles probably can’t afford to keep Sweat, who turns 28 in March. Licht is very tight with Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman, who drafted Sweat in 2018 and would likely offer Licht a candid assessment of Sweat’s character and work ethic.
Khalil Mack, two years removed from a 17-sack season, is also a potential free agent, but he turns 34 next month and his play dropped off significantly with the Chargers in 2024.
How about Hassan Reddick? No thank you.
DeMarcus Lawrence? Pass.
It’s up to the personnel department to find Bowles more tools for his defense. There are difference makers on that side of the ball … but not enough of ’em.
Check out all the special January offers and disclaimers at BillCurrieFord.com
Ira Kaufman Talks Coordinator Options, Front Office Changes, Liam Coen Wrapup, Fan Rage At Todd Bowels, Kacy Rodgers Theories, And More
January 29th, 2025 at 8:08 pm
Lawrence too old and injured I presume.
January 29th, 2025 at 8:10 pm
Bowles philosophy on defensive ends is bizarre to say the least. The amount of plays we dropped our (best) de into drop coverage is ludicrous and dumb. We got Yaya dropping into coverage i believe it’s almost 25 percent of the time Nelson, Braswell, J.T.S. its not working dude. STOP it. There is a great read on the stats on another site. It is ludicrous
January 29th, 2025 at 8:25 pm
Edge of losing…Why he keeps up with his losing D schemes? Thenthey drop back in pass defense that fails. Go with 4 down line.
January 29th, 2025 at 8:31 pm
Finally it has been said! Licht won’t get in a bidding war for a pass rusher in free agency, he has an extra pick from Carlton so he could move up in the draft but he’s never jumped up more than a few spots plus Licht hates giving away picks. Teams doing generally won’t give away good pass rushers in a trade if they do they are older or in the case of jpp under new management or changing scheme. Fans are under the impression licht will go nuts in free agency just because he has money and he’s never a player on day 1 of free agency, he’s always been a bargain shopper. If Buccs want a premier pass rusher Licht will have to hit the lottery or Bowles staff has to develop one and those two things have never happened so no reason to expect it. Can Licht get lucky enough to get a Shaq type player looking for a one year deal? How many times can these types of things keep happening
January 29th, 2025 at 8:37 pm
Call Spytek and work a deal for Crosby. Bucs 1st rd pick, Dean and 5th rd pick. Maybe need to trade RB White or Tucker.
January 29th, 2025 at 8:49 pm
Trey Hendrickson, wants out of Bengals…. make the trade, others are trying to right now.
January 29th, 2025 at 8:56 pm
See if you can get miles garret for 2 -1s and a 3.
January 29th, 2025 at 9:00 pm
Ira, those teams you mentioned do need pass rush help. The reality is the Buc’s are a much more desirable team. Between the City of Tampa and the culture created by the Glazers. It is also obvious that we have mature players with great comradery. There are many more bonuses to this team so attracting good players is usually attainable simpley because of
our ownership group. We have consistent winning ways, so if free agents are available and willing there isn’t anyone we can’t sign.
January 29th, 2025 at 9:08 pm
No pass rush from the edge and minimal interceptions, need more balls punched out too. I agree with Bucsguy we need to make a deal for Maxx Crosby–lets do it without losing any draft picks. Sign Trask and package him up with Rachaad White, Hainsey and Jamel Dean. ok lol–just make it happen w/o losing draft picks.
January 29th, 2025 at 9:22 pm
James Pearce will be a stud but alas, not overnight. He’s going to need a full season and off to bulk up. My bet is that he keeps his speed and will be great BUT that doesn’t help next year. Getting Myles for two 1’s is a pipe dream. Will Hendrickson want to play for Golden? Is he willing to hold out to get his wish? Man, Licht is going to earn his pay this off-season.
January 29th, 2025 at 9:24 pm
Licht should call the Raiders about Maxx Crosby.
The guy is a game wrecker that would bring some bad attitude to the defense that it badly needs.
And Licht is very familiar with the Raiders new GM
January 29th, 2025 at 9:27 pm
To me, and this is just my opinion, the Bucs had better results signing free agent edge rushers than developing them just see JPP and Barrett Over the past 3or 4 years they have drafted multiple edge rushers and non have developed in to studs or even just good off the edge
January 29th, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Bucs blocked Coen from interviewing Kevin carberry today
January 29th, 2025 at 9:40 pm
Bucs Guy
Just saw your post.
Crosby said recently that he loves the Raiders but knows it will be some time before they contend in that division.
Light needs to invest in an established veteran or two and stop gambling on draft picks which have not developed.
Get a couple of established dominators like he did with Suh, JPP and Barrett and stop gambling on the kids
January 29th, 2025 at 9:42 pm
You fix things by shining a light on them. The more we shine the light on a less than stellar pass defense (pass defense starts with pressure) the quicker we get it fixed. Keep shining the light Ira and Joes. We’re gonna make some good defensive additions soon. Can’t wait to see who we draft!
January 29th, 2025 at 9:53 pm
I’d absolutely send #19, Dean, White and next years 4th or something for Crosby or Hendrickson.
January 29th, 2025 at 10:19 pm
Duuuuvallll
January 29th, 2025 at 10:36 pm
barret turned out to be a great move but i dont remember him being on par with garret and crosby . bucs cant overpay with picks and money on that that type of a player they need to do their due diligence like they did with barrett. jpp was another great move that didnt recall a number 1 pick as i recall
January 29th, 2025 at 10:48 pm
Buy an edge, draft a ILB and S to shore up the middle.
We’ve seen this long enough now.
January 29th, 2025 at 10:50 pm
@Oxy – the Bucs traded a 3rd and 4th round pick to Giants and got JPP and a different 4th round pick in return.
That’s the ideal move IMO.
Shaq we signed in free agency and got lucky he exploded when made a starter.
January 29th, 2025 at 11:09 pm
No 3-4 edge rusher is coming to the Bucs unless they’re bottom feeders desperate for work. They want to rush the passer. Todd wants to be unpredictable and surprise the opposing QB.
Until the come to jeebus happens, and a full time DC is hired for Bowles to “mentor,” this train is going deeper into the ditch.
January 29th, 2025 at 11:53 pm
To use a very football term, Jason will ultimately fumble the defense.
January 29th, 2025 at 11:57 pm
Jason isn’t fumbling anything. If he secured Crosby or Hendrickson, they’d be covering Jamar Chase or Cee Dee Lamb instead of rushing the passer. What he needs to do is help the HC understand he can’t, hasn’t, and won’t do both jobs at the same time well at all. He does the Human Resources thing great. Hire a DC somTodd can focus all his attention on that. Meanwhile let’s fix the defense.
January 30th, 2025 at 12:29 am
What they need is to can Bowles.
January 30th, 2025 at 4:51 am
Agreed, having the 19th pick we will probably lose out on Abdul Carter. Guessing the Cowboys and a couple of other teams want him.
Impressed with Aggies Stewart or Scournton. If we can get one of them that would be fantastic. Agreed, pass on Mack. Unsure about Sweat. He will be 28 in March.
After reading Ira’s post I am really encouraged that Licht/Bowles will make a great choice for a rusher. Hoping by the end of this week we have a new OC Coordinator and defensive coach replacing Kacy.
January 30th, 2025 at 5:27 am
The biggest obstacle to all of this is Coach Swiss Cheese.
Otherwise, I completely agree with you, Ira.
However,
The Bucs DO NOT need an edge rush.
Coach Swiss Cheese has made that perfectly clear numerous times.
The only way it will happen is if Jason Licht drafts one or picks one up in free agency, AND/OR he and the Glazers give Coach Swiss Cheese a clear directive to change the defensive scheme.
As in, “You WILL change the defensive scheme”.
What is the point of picking up a Crosby or Garrett in free agency if the guy is going to spend half his time dropping back into coverage?
If so, there’s an argument that we’d be better off taking our chances in the draft and not throwing away cap space on a free agency edge rush, if that’s the case.
Again, I agree with you Ira.
But I don’t see Coach Swiss Cheese changing his defensive scheme unless he’s given clear marching orders to do so. He’s too stubborn.
And, I don’t see Jason Licht and/or the Glazers giving him that directive. I don’t think that’s how they operate.
January 30th, 2025 at 5:56 am
Vanessa – Who is Coach Swiss Cheese? If you are talking about Bowles, I disagree. He has done better than other coaches in the league. Our players respect and stand by him too. That says a lot.
January 30th, 2025 at 7:42 am
Since edge rushers are slim pickens, how about we craft a defense that drops lineman into coverage and oh wait……nevermind.
January 30th, 2025 at 8:01 am
We STILL have cap issues, something like 20% of next year’s is already tied up with deferred contracts, doubt any high priced free agents are forthcoming
January 30th, 2025 at 8:06 am
Need a tweener at OLB. Somebody who can rush the QB and drop into pass coverage. Not many of those floating around out there. Diaby to me would be better as a 4-3 end. Just rush the passer and contain the outside. JTS is simply a bust.
January 30th, 2025 at 8:22 am
If Jason knows of a guy on someones practice squad or some secret out of the way JC guy who has been overkooked Now is the time. Good stuff Ira!
Need to keep Nelson BTW. He does more than just rush the passer and does it on less snaps than JTS. Still can’t get that one to make sense.
Go Bucs!
January 30th, 2025 at 12:34 pm
Well said, Vanessa! Coach Swiss Cheese is a fine metaphor for our overdeployed coach. And it’s aged Swiss.
January 30th, 2025 at 1:30 pm
We need another Barrett. Prove it deal to a backup edge rusher with potential. Look at everybody coming off a bench and see who has the most section pressures for snap. Grab that guy if he’s at the end of his contract. May have a chance if the team he’s with is cap strapped.
Might be simplifying this hunt a bit. That’s what I call a fan’s edge hunt process. Looking at it as somebody who thinks about it only when reading Joe articles, doesn’t work in football, has no NFL credentials or experience whatsoever. Like everybody here. LOL
January 30th, 2025 at 2:59 pm
I feel like Bowles’ 3-4 really hurts their ability to have a dominant pass rusher develop here.
A 4-3 where they don’t have to spend half their time being the OLB in pass coverage just so that Bowles can play with blitzes… that would do wonders. And draft players that fit that, not ones that are swiss army knives. One size fits all? more like one size fits none.
January 30th, 2025 at 3:05 pm
No matter how good the pass rush, two more longer, faster, highly skilled, pass defending ILB’s are needed to effectively defend quick routes in the middle of the field and prevent yards after catch. Otherwise, opposing teams will still just snap it and fling it for three to five yards and tack on another five or ten yards after the catch like happened too often last year.
Certainly, every down, run stuffing, quarterback sacking, superlative edge defenders are always desirable by the dozen. But, when you are a dozen short of such beasts, there are ways to improvise.
The Bucs have Vea pushing the pocket in the middle demanding a double team. And, they have quick first step Kancey penetrating on one side of Vea. So, on the other side of Vea, the Bucs need either another quick first step penetrator or a pocket pusher. Logan Hall may become that second pocket pusher.
With three special defensive linemen, you can live with one OLB who can at least contain and clean up.
But, in addition to a looking for a special third defensive lineman, the Bucs should take the smorgasbord free agent approach.
Last year, the Texans signed 28 year old Derek Barnett to another 1 year deal for $2 million. He played 390 snaps; an average of 23 snaps per game. In limited play, he made 26 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 run stuffs, forced 2 fumbles and recovered 2 fumbles.
Earlier in his career, it was obvious that Vea had tremendous talent, but he got flack for only taking a limited number of sacks. Vea overcame that. But, there are players who can be productive on the field so long as their snap count is limited.
Rather than spend $20+ million on a single pass rusher who may get hurt, look for five or six guys who look like they could become this year’s version of Derek Barnett or a fraction of an early Vea.
Take whatever mix you can find of pocket pushers, quick first step penetrators, and edge guys.
Don’t try to teach them the whole playbook; don’t drop them in coverage. You just need one of them to be Daniel Bateman from The Replacements for a few plays and “… get you the ball!”
Rotate them up from the practice squad and see who works out. If they need an extra week to recover, leave them inactive. If you only got 1 sack from each of them, for $12 million, together they would give you the production of one of the Bucs 2024 sack leaders. If they give you 2 sacks from each, you would be getting the production of a league leader. If they got the insane production that Barnett got last year, you would be looking at 30 sacks. In the real world, you are likely looking at 6 to 10 sacks? Money well spent in the scheme of things. And, for motivation, an extra $500 K for each additional sack after the first two one of these players makes.