Best offseason move?
Man, the Bucs made so many moves in the offseason, it’s almost difficult to pick a favorite.
Folks whined about cornerbacks. The Bucs drafted a pair of corners on Day 2 of the draft.
Folks are worried about Chris Godwin. The Bucs went out and drafted his clone with the No. 19 overall pick.
But Joe’s favorite moves were getting edge rushers. Ever since Chucky was dismissed as the Bucs’ coach, this franchise has had a horrible time finding a legit edge rusher until they traded for Jason Pierre-Paul. Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht swapping a third-round pick for JPP was no less than highway robbery.
Shoot, the Bucs even kicked Michael Bennett out the door for no good reason. Outrageous!
But since Father Time caught up with Bucs sack king Shaq Barrett, who was a free agent, and JPP, the Bucs are back in the rut that highlighted the Lost Decade. Finally, Licht broke down and signed a legit edge rusher in Haason Reddick.
For Mike Sando of The Athletic, Licht bringing in Reddick was Sando’s favorite move for the Bucs this offseason.
Signing Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million deal was a low-risk move that could give the Buccaneers high-end pass-rush production. Reddick averaged 12.5 sacks per season with three teams from 2020-23 before his holdout-shortened year with the Jets. He’ll be looking to produce Tampa Bay’s first double-digit sack season since Shaq Barrett in 2021.
The Bucs needed Reddick, or someone coming off the edge that opposing teams had to respect, in the worst way. Opponents were doubling YaYa Diaby and pretty much taking him out. The Bucs had zero counter.
Now, with Reddick, one would assume teams aren’t stupid enough to try to block Reddick regularly with a single blocker. That means Diaby should see fewer double-teams.
The way Joe looks at it, this is a win-win situation no matter how you slice it. Reddick gets doubled, either Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, Logan Hall or Diaby no longer is double-teamed.
If Reddick has flashbacks to his pre-Jets self, this move could unleash the hounds.