The Buccaneers’ Odds of Making the Playoffs

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The dust has settled on another year of Buccaneers football, ending with a whimper against the Dallas Cowboys. The Super Bowl is over, but the NFL season is never truly finished. It’s time for teams to start making moves for next year, and this includes the Bucs. It’s already been an eventful offseason for the team, with their hall of fame quarterback Tom Brady announcing his retirement, presumably for real this time. 

When looking ahead to next season, there is a lot of work to be done on both sides of the ball to make the playoffs. Coach Todd Bowles believes that “you never rebuild, always reload,” so hopefully the front office isn’t looking to tear down the roster. The soft NFC South means that they can always be in contention. There are some important decisions to come, so let’s take a look at a few of them. 

Quarterback

With Brady gone, quarterback will be the biggest decision the Buccaneers have to make. Or rather, it will be the decision that has the most impact on the team. Kyle Trask is the only quarterback on the roster with Blaine Gabbert a pending free agent. Trask is likely still a year or two away from being able to start, and they could bring Gabbert back.

There are also a few quarterbacks out there that might be available if they were to make a trade. Derek Carr wouldn’t come with a high trade cost, but the Bucs would have to do some serious creative accounting to fit him under the cap. Jimmy Garappolo is also an option as he seems to have finally ceded the top spot in San Francisco. It’s a long shot, but the Buccaneers could also trade up in the draft for someone like Will Levis to start as a rookie. 

Offense

After being one of the top offenses in 2021, the Buccaneers took a massive step back in 2022. Partly that has to do with Brady, who was inconsistent all year, and had to prioritize not taking hits on his 45 year old body. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has been fired by the team, and many of the moves they make, including at quarterback, will depend on who they hire. They do have a great starting point with WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but they have some questions at running back and offensive line. 

Leonard Fournette got the most snaps of any Bucs running back, and he should be back this year. Rookie Rachaad White looked good in his first, and he should be relied on more next season as Fournette is one year older. They don’t have much to spend in free agency, so they look like the featured backs, Ke’Shawn Vaughn a serviceable backup. 

The offensive line was one reason why the offense struggled last year. Brady and co. weren’t consistently given the time they needed to make plays. The running game struggled at times, and it can largely be attributed to run-blocking. They will need to upgrade here if they want to improve the offense with Brady gone. 

Defense

The defense has been the Buccaneers’ strength the past few seasons, and that should carry over into 2023. However, with 17 free agents on the defensive side and $40 million over the cap, there may have to be some hard decisions. The biggest priority has to be Lavonte Davis, the defensive captain and longest-tenured Buccaneer. He was solid again last year, and there’s no reason why the team couldn’t make something work. They have four free agents in the secondary in Sean Murphy-Bunting, Logan Ryan, Jamel Dean, and Mike Edwards. They all played minutes this year, but there could be some changes ahead. Bowles criticized the group for a lack of focus in their playoff loss. In a while, the defense should be the team’s strength again next year. 

Odds

You can check out the odds of the Buccaneers making the playoffs next season on Fandual, DraftKings, and BetMGM. Those are three of the top betting sites, so you can expect similar odds elsewhere. Last season, they had the highest odds of any team to make the playoffs, because of their weak competition and because Brady never misses the postseason. If you are looking to bet but don’t know where, you can go here to check the best sites for sports betting in the US, including those offering the best betting markets, top bonuses and promotions and states, and much more.

The Buccaneers have a lot of questions, but if they choose to reload as their coach wants, this might be a time to get great odds on them making the playoffs before they start making moves. 

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