Jesse Reed
Winner: Buccaneers land big fish
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the cusp of playoff relevance last year. They feature one of the game’s most promising young quarterbacks in Jameis Winston and one of its best young receivers in Mike Evans. The defense also showed tons of promise and was able to retain defensive coordinator Mike Smith this offseason.
Then free agency began, and the team made two huge moves to get even stronger.
The first and most obvious was landing receiver DeSean Jackson, who should be a perfect fit playing opposite Evans on the perimeter. His quickness and pure speed will stretch defenses, which had a hard enough time keeping Evans from going ham last year when the Bucs didn’t have another top option going. Throw in Adam Humphries and tight end Cameron Brate and the Bucs really have something going on offense.
Then the Bucs added an underrated defender, Chris Baker, who should make a huge difference in the trenches. He’s logged 10.5 sacks as a 3-4 defensive end the past two years in Washington and will play next to another disruptive interior lineman in Gerald McCoy as a nightmare defensive tackle combination for Tampa Bay.
