The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been trending upward since Todd Bowles took over as head coach for Bruce Arians after the 2021 season.
Bowles was just rewarded with a three-year contract extension, along with general manager Jason Licht.
Heading into 2025, the Bucs return all 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball, for a unit that ranked in the top five of most statistical categories last year.
Defensively, the team will hopefully improve coming off a season where Bowles' unit struggled to get pressure on the quarterback and in pass coverage.
Licht focused on the defense in both free agency and the draft, and hopes are high that Bowles can turn the defense around next season.
Matt Johnson of Sportsnaut ranked all 32 teams this offseason and the Buccaneers just missed out on the top 10 at No. 11.
"Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have demonstrated they can overcome the loss of an offensive coordinator without skipping a beat offensively," Johnson wrote. We’ll also highlight the fact that new play-caller Josh Grizzard was directly responsible for the best third-down offense (50.9 percent) in the NFL last year. Tampa Bay is also getting back Chris Godwin (ankle) and it added another potential No. 2 receiver in Emeka Egbuka to pair with Mike Evans.
"Defensively, Tampa Bay even strengthened its pass rush with the Haason Reddick signing. We’ve seen enough in the last two seasons to believe the Buccaneers will remain a very good team."