Starting to get attention.
Joe has noticed a slow-moving narrative that is simmering beneath the surface.
It seems some folks in the national media are beginning to pay attention to the Bucs.
Oh, they sure did when Tom Brady was here. Had to. He was the farm animal. The international celebrity. And he wasted no time guiding what was a moribund franchise to the mountaintop as Super Bowl champions.
But when he left, it was as if folks in the northeast forgot there was a team on the west coast of the east coast. Meanwhile, all the Bucs have done is win divisions and make the playoffs.
Now, for reasons Joe isn’t totally sure of, that is beginning to change.
Kay Adams has been hyping up the Bucs. That’s a good place to start!
She likes Lavonte David, admires Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and is smitten with Tez Johnson (lucky guy). All the better.
You can add Albert Breer to the slowly growing crowd outside of the Tampa Bay region who believe the Bucs are worth monitoring this year.
Take a successful franchise with (on paper) a very talented roster and sooner or later, the [attention will come](https://www.si.com/nfl/nfl-takeaways-offseason-notes-all-32-teams), Breer typed on SI.com.
> After a Super Bowl title and then four consecutive division titles, can the Buccaneers get some respect? The roster is deep, balanced and homegrown. While the edge rushers and corners could be better (and maybe they will be), there’s no huge unanswered question here other than how 35-year-old Josh Grizzard will do as OC after following Canales and Coen.
Breer isn’t wrong. Haason Reddick and/or YaYa Diaby terrorizing quarterbacks (preferably both) will go along way from repairing what has been an awful pass defense.
Joe stated when the Bucs first signed Baker Mayfield that he is largely thought to be used bubble gum. Joe typed that it would take two, maybe three years of strong play for Mayfield to shed his past image as a No. 1 overall pick who didn’t live up to the hype.
Well, we’re entering Mayfield’s third year with the Bucs. His two previous seasons were career years for him. And just as Joe suspected back in 2023, it seems slowly people are beginning to recognize Mayfield for who he is: One of the better signal-callers in the game.
With that also comes respect for the Bucs.