Buccaneers cornerback expands on bold Super Bowl take

Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean raised eyebrows when he recently said he felt the club's current squad is "better than the team that won the Super Bowl" in February 2021. 

On Tuesday, the JoeBucsFan website caught up with Dean and asked the 28-year-old to expand on his bold take.

"Really, I’m referring to the positivity with younger guys making a big step up," Dean explained. "You know, performance on the field and the energy of the whole team — you have to be out there on the field in practice to see it. It’s not just on defense, it’s on both sides of the ball. I’m referring to our offensive scheme and the personnel we have. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball right now, a lot. I just feel like the offense as a whole this year really has it."

Specifically, the Tampa Bay offense will once again feature quarterback Baker Mayfield, star wide receiver Mike Evans and running back Bucky Irving coming off Irving's stellar rookie season. Additionally, rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka has impressed since the start of summer practices. 

Tampa Bay has a new offensive coordinator in Josh Grizzard, but he previously coached Mayfield while serving as the club's pass game coordinator last season. Grizzard has been credited with "designing" the Buccaneers' third-down offense for the 2024 campaign. 

That said, it's unclear when Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin and All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs will return to in-game action. Godwin may not play before October as he works to recover from the dislocated left ankle, high ankle sprain, fractured fibula and torn deltoid he suffered last fall. Wirfs underwent surgery on his right knee earlier this summer but could be "in play" for Tampa Bay's Week 2 game at the Houston Texans on Monday, Sept. 15. 

"I’ll just say I feel like we got something really good going, but it’s about showing it on game day," safety Antoine Winfield Jr. told JoeBucsFan when asked about Dean's original comment. "I know what [Dean’s] saying, though. Game day. It’s about game day."

As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings tied for seventh among the betting favorites at +1100 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LX. Mayfield will look to get his offense off to a hot start when the Bucs open the season with a matchup at the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 7.