5 Bucs In A Make-Or-Break Season

Here are the top five Bucs that are in a make-or-break season in 2024.

1. Bucs CB Jamel Dean

The Bucs shipped cornerback Carlton Davis III to the Lions in a trade this offseason and it very well could’ve been Dean if not for his contract situation at the time. There’s no question that Dean is a great corner in coverage. He’ll be Tampa Bay’s No. 1 corner because of that ability and his experience. His issue, and the reason why he’s first on this list, is twofold.

Dean gets injured often and he doesn’t take away the football. Dean has never played a full season in his career and his missed six combined games over the previous two seasons. Is he going to stay on the field more often as he gets older? Most likely not. Injuries can be fluky, but the Bucs can’t just hope it’ll be different this year and assume he’ll be a 17-game starter.

Dean  also needs to become more a ballhawk. He constantly drops interceptions, which was glaring in the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs when he dropped a pick in the end zone in the first quarter. That led to an early Lions field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Two seasons ago Dean recorded two interceptions, but they were in the same game in Week 2 at New Orleans. Last year he didn’t record a single pick. So including three postseason games that Tampa Bay has played over the last two seasons, Jamel Dean has gone 29 consecutive games without an interception. The Bucs have emphasized to Dean that he needs to catch the ball this offseason. If not, this could be his last season in Tampa Bay. The Bucs traded away Davis for the same two reasons – he’s oft-injured and doesn’t create enough takeaways.

All of Dean’s guaranteed money is up after the 2024 season. He is set to hit Tampa Bay’s cap for $15.2 million in 2025, so if the team decides to part ways with him as they did with Davis this offseason, it would save a good deal of money. With Zyon McCollum emerging as Davis’ replacement this season, it’d be easier to bump him up to CB1 and find a second-stringer for next season. But a great season from Dean could certainly change the Bucs’ mind.

2. Bucs WR Chris Godwin

Out of all the players on the list, this is the most painful to discuss. Godwin is a team leader that sets a great example to younger players with his work ethic and commitment to excellence. Where the issue lies is with his paycheck and the uncertainty about the Bucs continuously paying two receivers over $20 million per season into the future. They’re currently doing that this year with Mike Evans and Godwin, but Evans is also under contract for 2025 while Godwin is entering an important contract year.

If Godwin was producing like he was in 2019, 2020 and 2021, it would be a no-brainer to re-sign him. Yet Godwin has been a different player since coming back from an ACL injury late in the 2021 season. It’s a extremely commendable that Godwin caught over 100 passes and went over 1,000 yards in 2022, then went over 1,000 yards again in 2023. But the amount of his impact plays and touchdowns has subsided over the years. He went from nine touchdown receptions in 2019 to seven the next season to five in 2021 to three in 2022 and only two receiving scores last year before adding another in the postseason win over the Eagles.

As previously stated, this is good production. But is it production worth $20 million a year for a receiver who will turn 29 next February? Hypothetically if Godwin would be willing to take less money after this season, the odds are the Bucs would be fine with him coming back. If Godwin has a fantastic season and if Tampa Bay believes he’ll continue this output then the team would be interested in getting a deal done.

Where it gets dicey is if Godwin sustains a similar amount of production and only scores a couple of times in 2024. Other teams may still believe he’s worth $20 million, but that may be too much for the Bucs.

3. Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka

The writing might already be on the wall for Tryon-Shoyinka as the Bucs drafted Chris Braswell in the second round, signed Randy Gregory in free agency, and have been vocal about how high they are on Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez. They also did not pick up the former first-round pick’s fifth-year option, so Tryon-Shoyinka will have one more season to prove he’s worth keeping.

JTS had his snaps cut when the Bucs moved YaYa Diaby to a starting role. He did actually perform well in more of a limited capacity, having a key strip-sack in the last game of the regular season to help the Bucs clinch the division. Through three seasons JTS has had nine sacks. In 2022 he became the full time starter, but plateaued at four sacks despite more playing time. He did increase his sack total to five last season, which is step in the right direction, though not as much of an improvement as Tampa Bay wanted.

The problem is that Tryon-Shoyinka was a first-round pick for the Bucs and has failed to live up to expectations because he’s performed like a mid-round pick. JTS is a very solid player but he has yet to become a starting-caliber pass rusher capable of consistently winning one-on-one against offensive tackles because he lacks the requisite speed-to-power. This year he could be in a “Joker” role moving around all over Todd Bowles’ defense, so that might bring better results if he’s schemed the right way.

4. Bucs DT Logan Hall

Hall really needs to step up for the Bucs this season if he wants to be a mainstay in the rotation on the defensive line. Overall there wasn’t many splash plays or moments for Hall, especially last season when he was inserted into the lineup at the beginning of the year when he filled in for the injured Calijah Kancey, the team’s first-round pick who missed the first four games of the year.

Hall didn’t show a lot of promise as an undersized rookie in 2022 where he had 2.5 sacks as a rotational player. But when given the chance to start next to Vita Vea last year in place of Kancey, Hall failed to impress. Despite more playing time last year, he recorded just half a sack and recovered two fumbles. The fact that Hall was drafted to be a pass-rushing defensive tackle and his sack production decreased was not a good sign.

The Bucs didn’t add a defensive tackle in the draft or through free agency, so that bodes well for Hall. His fellow teammate Will Gholston also believes this is going to be a breakout year for Hall. He is heading into his third season in the NFL, so it’s the right time to get it going.

Hall was drafted at the top of the second round, but the team has already drafted his replacement in Kancey. The team could be completely done with him after the 2024 season if he doesn’t step up his production this fall.

5. Bucs TE Ko Kieft

It’s not the best look when your main job is to block in the running game and Tampa Bay’s run game has ranked last in the league the past two seasons. At this point, Kieft is more of a fullback than he is a tight end. He made one catch last season, and while it was for a touchdown, he is no threat in the passing game.

Kieft doesn’t have good hands, and the fact that his best trait is blocking and he has struggled to become a dominant blocking tight end is a troublesome sign. Kieft is not guaranteed to make the roster this year out of training camp. A lot of this hinges on the growth and development of second-year tight end Payne Durham. We didn’t see too much of Durham as a rookie, but he’s a much better receiver and if he can improve his blocking it could make Kieft expendable.

Kieft is going into a critical third season and the fact that the Bucs will be using far less two tight end sets will hurt his cause in 2024. The Bucs may only keep three tight ends and opt to keep six receivers on the roster as Liam Coen’s offense will feature more three-receiver sets this year. Kieft will have to be a dominant special teams player and improve his blocking to stick around.