Can Bucs afford to build a Super Bowl roster with Tom Brady?
Tom Brady enters the 2023 NFL offseason with his future in limbo. This is especially true for his situation with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His current contract has officially expired, making him a free agent this year. All options appear to be on the table for the legendary quarterback, including signing an extension with the Buccaneers, changing teams during the 2023 NFL offseason, and even retiring.
It's highly likely that the Buccaneers will do everything within their power to keep Tom Brady in Tampa Bay for at least one more year. While he struggled a bit during the 2022 NFL season compared to his astronomical standards, he still gives any team a great chance of winning in the immediate future.
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers would each appear to have the same goal for the 2023 NFL season. This is to win another Super Bowl ring. The problem is that the Buccaneers have many more questions about their roster right now than just Brady's contract. They enter the 2023 NFL offseason in a bit of a salary cap crisis.
I don’t think heading west would mesh with Tom Brady’s personal life. He may think the #Bucs can fix this. But they’re nearly $55–60 million over salary cap. May have a hard time convincing him they can build a SB team in ‘23. twitter.com/boog0311/statu…
The Buccaneers are projected to be more than $50 million over the salary cap this year. This is also before potentially signing Tom Brady to a new deal, and he's not the only significant player on their roster pending free agency. Julio Jones, Lavonte David, Logan Ryan, and Akiem Hicks, among several other contributors, are all on expiring contracts this year.
The salary cap dilemma puts the Buccaneers in a difficult spot. Brady will likely only sign another contract with the team if they are true Super Bowl contenders. While he's demonstrated many times during his career that he's willing to take pay cuts to help his organization, the same can't be said about most other players. Other Buccaneers players may need to do so to make them a contender in 2023.
The Buccaneers need to convince Tom Brady that their roster is good enough to win a Super Bowl in 2023, or his chances of returning are slim to none. This will require finesse by the franchise, including contract restructures and possible trades. This doesn't even include improving their roster on what they had during the 2022 NFL season, which was a major failure by their standards.
While nothing is impossible, it will be a long journey for the Buccaneers this offseason, capped off by a hard sell to convince Tom Brady that they will still provide him with his best opportunity to win another Super Bowl ring. They will have a hard time bringing back what they had last year, let alone improving their situation.
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers' disappointing 2022-23 NFL season
Tom Brady entered the 2022-23 NFL season as a starting quarterback for the 22nd consecutive year. During that time, he has incredibly never recorded a losing season in any year of his entire NFL career as a starter with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The legendary streak officially ended after he closed out the 2022-23 season with a disappointing 8-9 record.
The Buccaneers entered the season as one of the projected favorites to win the Super Bowl. Any team with Tom Brady as their quarterback is always expected to win, especially one coming off consecutive appearances in the NFL Playoffs and bringing home a ring just two seasons ago. However, they fell significantly short of their goal.
While the Buccaneers made it to the postseason for the third consecutive year with Brady, it was much more about the weaknesses of their division than their own success. They won the NFC South division title despite finishing the season with a losing record. This earned them a trip to the NFL playoffs, where the Dallas Cowboys dominated them in the wild card round by a 31-14 score.