A year truly goes by. Last week on March 17th, that made a full year when Tom Brady announced he was leaving the only team he had ever knew and that’s the New England Patriots after 20 seasons. Entering free agency for the first time, he decided to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom continued the trend of legendary quarterbacks leaving a team after spending many years with them and joining a new franchise. In his first year, he helped lead the Buccaneers to their second Super Bowl title in franchise history. Tom’s seventh in his Hall of Fame career. One thing that happens after a team wins the Super Bowl, they aren’t able to keep every player from the previous roster. That hasn’t been the case in Tampa Bay. Mostly everyone is returning for the 2021 season.
As usual, Tom restructured his deal to give the team more flexibility in spending. This isn’t a surprise because he did this many times while playing with the Patriots. One of the very first moves the team did outside of Tom was making sure Chris Godwin would be wearing a Bucs uniform in 2021. He would’ve been a sought out free agent wide receiver if he did test the market out. Tampa ended up franchising him which was smart. He’s a vital part of their offense. They also resigned Rob Gronkowski to a one-year deal. The offensive line also had to be looked at. Offensive tackle Donovan Smith agreed to a tw0-year contract extension. On the defensive side, the Bucs finally signed Shaq Barrett to a contract extension. I thought he was going to get franchised again. Instead, he got a four-year deal! Lavonte David agreed to a two-year deal to stay in Tampa. I feel the biggest move they made was resigning Ndamukong Suh. When Vita Vea went down with his injury during the season, Suh stepped in and filled a huge void for the Bucs. He was also a vital piece in the Super Bowl this past February.
They didn’t lose anyone. Tom will be even more on page with his receivers, the defense will look to pick up right where they left off and they will have that bullseye on their backs this year with them being the defending Super Bowl champs. It’d be crazy to bet against them this year. I see them being one of the final four teams competing for the Super Bowl once again.
