What is the Buccaneers biggest hope going into the 2025 season?
Of course, they also had to bring back key pieces like Lavonte David and Chris Godwin Jr. in free agency, but after doing that there wasn't much else to manage in terms of contracts.
Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox wrote up each NFL team's reason for hope in 2025, and for the Bucs, it is the continuity within the roster that is giving him reasons to be optimistic. The team may have exited the playoffs early, but they had a roster that was ready for something special and Jason Licht knows that.
Knox writes, "While the Falcons and even Panthers may be ready to challenge within the division—expectations should be lower in New Orleans—the Buccaneers should be considered the favorites entering camp. Why? Because general manager Jason Licht once again made it an offseason priority to keep top players in the fold. Mayfield, Mike Evans, Tristan Wirfs and 2024 breakout back Bucky Irving were always going to be back for the coming season. However, Tampa also re-signed standouts like Chris Godwin and linebacker Lavonte David while adding new contributors like Haason Reddick and rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka. . .While there's no guarantee that Tampa will be better in 2025, it's highly unlikely to be worse. That's reason enough to believe the Bucs could be sleeper Super Bowl contenders."
The offense returns every starter for the 2025 season that it had in 2024, with a new coordinator of course. As for the defense, they add Haason Reddick, but otherwise it also remains untouched.
It truly is unheard of for a non-Super Bowl team to run things back like this, but who are we to question Jason Licht and his Super Bowl ring at this point?
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