Generally speaking, for the past seven seasons the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had something in the off-season, either through the draft or free agency, to make their fans excited and hopeful for the next season. Usually, this is false hope that the team can accomplish something that they lacked in the previous years. For example, the signing of Vincent Jackson. Although signing him made our offense better, our best record with Vincent Jackson as a full-time starter was 7-9 in 2012… his first year with us. But for this article, I want to focus on more recent off-seasons like last year.
Signing DeSean Jackson was supposed to open up the field for Mike Evans and make life in the run game easier. Guess what, it didn’t happen. Or what about signing Chris Baker and having his presence on the defensive line make life easier for Gerald McCoy, ultimately unleashing him on opposing offenses? Guess what, that didn’t pan out either. Then, that leaves us with the draft prospects. Remember when drafting OJ Howard with the 19th pick was supposed to make life for Winston a lot easier and again further the success of the run game? Although he was a good pick when all things are considered, once again, GUESS WHAT DIDN’T HAPPEN?!?!
I will always be a loyal Bucs fan, no matter how frustrated the players and coaches may make me, but I refuse to fall for the false off-season hope they always seem to create. Not until they show it on the field for once will I become a believer in the hype. With free agency around the corner, I can only hope we go after players we need, not players we want.
Edited By Morgan Adele
