With the NFL offseason quickly approaching, the Bucs are looking to: Improve your roster. Edge rusher is an area on the roster that has had a lackluster performance for the second year in a row. Teams may target the position in the draft, but this year’s free agent class is loaded with impressive talent that could help the Bucs get more power out of their pass rush.
Bucks assistant GM Mike Greenberg
Currently, Tampa Bay has a lot of salary cap space and room to make more additions, but most of those will be on the inside, including quarterback Baker Mayfield, wide receiver Mike Evans, and safety Antwon Winfield Jr. It appears that the money is being used to bring back key members of the team.
Here I wanted to present the case of two free agent edge rushers who could help the team. The first would be a slightly larger investment, but the second would be a better value proposition. The plan is to present some of these dual cases in a series of articles over the next few weeks.
But if you came to see, say, Josh Allen pitch, you’re out of luck. Again, the Bucks are unlikely to swim in the deep end of the pool with an outside free agent. But there is still room for players in the second or third tier, and I will choose one from each of these tiers and argue for each player. For the evaluation of each player, I will use research done by myself and Kyle Dedimini-Cantanio. A to Z Sports Predicting future free agent contracts.
Bucks Target 1: Bryce Huff.
Jets Edge Bryce Huff Photo Credit: USA Today
Huff is a former undrafted free agent who made a name for himself on the New York Jets’ extremely talented pass rush.Last year he recorded 29 tackles, 10 sacks, 21 quarterback hits and 67 pressures. Here’s what we had to say about AtoZ:
“A former undrafted free agent, Huff has developed into one of the most talented pass rushers in the NFL. A part-time player in the Jets’ well-stocked edge room, Huff recorded eight sacks in his platform year. Huff’s 113 pressures and 13.5 sacks over the past three seasons are comparable to Trey Hendrickson’s last three years in New Orleans before signing a big contract in Cincinnati.
“Huff will have a chance to become a full-time player on a contract worth over $50 million due to his 16.39% pressure rate in addition to his overall contributions to one of the best defenses in the NFL.”
We expect Huff to sign a four-year, $58 million contract. This would be a big investment from Tampa Bay, but it would put him in the top 20 of edge rushers based on annual average. Given the way the Bucs’ current outside linebacker room is constructed, Huff would serve well as the best pure pass rusher, but he won’t necessarily be on the field for more than 800 snaps per season. He’s not a player who can’t be.
Huff is a very efficient pass rusher in limited snaps, and while he may lose some of that efficiency with increased volume, he still has solid value if the Bucs choose that path. There should be.
Bucks Target 2: Josh Uche
Patriots Edge Josh Uche Photo Credit: USA Today
If the Bucs choose not to take the eight-figure APY route as an outside linebacker, they may choose to find another part-time player who is more efficient at a lower price. Introducing Patriots outside linebacker Josh Uche. Here’s what we said about him in the AtoZ article and his expected contract:
“Uche never became a full-time player in Bill Belicheck’s multi-defense game. 2022 was his high-water mark, with 373 snaps. He becomes an extremely valuable and capable rusher when given the opportunity to chase down the passer. He has recorded 93 pressures on 512 pass rush snaps over the last two years for a pressure rate of 18.2%. It’s good as such.
“Uche is small but very athletic, so he has the world to be a three-down player for teams that want to use him in a variety of ways. He could be a quality second piece to an established No. 1 edge rusher. It has the potential to become.”
An athletic edge rusher who can be used in a variety of schemes? It has Todd Bowles and the Bucs written all over it. The best thing about Tampa Bay is the price tag associated with Uche. We expect to sign him to a one-year, $8.5 million contract. While it’s not as good a bargain as when the Bucs signed Shaq Barrett in 2019, it’s still a great opportunity for Tampa Bay to potentially buy a player on the cheap who has shown exceptional flexibility and ability to get close to the passer. There is.
