A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Every week, Pewter reporters tackle a different tough question. This week’s question: What should the Bucks’ New Year’s resolution be for 2025?
Scott Reynolds: Keep Mike Greenberg in Tampa Bay
Bucks assistant GM Mike Greenberg and Tom Brady – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
There is an art to building teams in the NFL, and Bucs general manager Jason Richt is a master at this. The sheer amount of talent the Bucks have assembled on their roster comes from the talented front office that Richt has assembled over the years. Tampa Bay’s great draft is no coincidence. That comes from having talented scouts and personnel executives who have agreed to search for and find players who fit the “I Am That Man” outlined by Richt and assistant general manager John Spytek. The Bucs’ front office consistency has allowed for consistently great drafts.
Somehow, the rest of the league’s teams have gotten over the fact that the Bucs do a great job of drafting, signing free agents, and having the best salary cap management that allows Tampa Bay to retain its star players year after year. I don’t understand. However, the 2025 offseason feels like the year Spytek will finally be hired as a general manager elsewhere. He very much deserves the opportunity to start and run his own NFL team. And Spytech will likely bring several Bucks scouts and front office members with them. Director of player personnel Mike Beal (in charge of college scouting) and Rob McCartney (in charge of pro scouting) are also suitable candidates for the position of general manager and could be poached from the Bucks’ organization.
But one key front office member Richt can’t afford to lose is assistant GM Mike Greenberg. He is the Bucks’ salary cap manager, lead contract negotiator and top strategist. Greenberg is truly irreplaceable and too valuable to lose. He is expected to receive some interest in the coming weeks for the vacant general manager position from the New York Jets, the team he grew up rooting for and previously interned with. . If Greenberg is hired as GM, he will likely bring in Jackie Davidson, the Bucks’ director of football research, who will help with Greenberg’s contract, cap and team-building strategies. Probably.
Richt has built a talented scouting staff. He and the Bucks should be able to weather some losses in the personnel department as a result of their depth. Richt’s close friend and former Titans general manager Jon Robinson could always be floated as an option to return to Tampa Bay to fill the big hole if Beal, McCartney and Spytek leave. But there is no obvious replacement for Greenberg, who interviewed for the Panthers’ general manager job last January. If Greenberg could leave, Licht and the Glazer family need to do whatever it takes to keep him.
Matt Matera: ‘Bucks need to re-sign Chris Godwin’
Bucks WR Chris Godwin – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The Bucks’ offense is in great shape. They are a high-scoring team that will automatically score 30 points before you blink. And the great thing is that for the vast majority of players on offense, all the key components are under contract for at least next season. Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Rashard White and the entire offensive line except left guard Ben Bredeson will return next year. The only exception is star wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Let’s not forget how great Chris Godwin was playing before suffering his season-ending injury on Monday Night Football against the Ravens. His 576 receiving yards led Tampa Bay and ranked among the top three in the NFL in receiving yards. He’s getting back on track to scoring touchdowns, going five to seven games. It’s fun to watch Mike Evans make great plays down the stretch and reach nearly 1,000 yards, but Godwin was the one who got through Tampa Bay’s offense before he dislocated his ankle.
Rookie receiver Jalen McMillan has been spectacular in the passing game, scoring six touchdowns over the past four games. He is an important figure for photography. Tampa Bay’s offense has been great, but it will be even better if Godwin returns to the Bucs next season.
Eventually, Evans will retire and the team will need someone else to lean on. After McMillan, the depth chart at receiver gets a little thinner. Ensuring Godwin returns is a good thing for everyone involved. The Bucs get back the one-two punch of Evans and Godwin while ensuring they have an answer whenever Evans stops playing. Godwin can stay in Tampa Bay and continue building his legacy in this series, and get paid a lot of money for it. By keeping Godwin beyond 2025, the Bucks can continue to win in the offseason.
Bailey Adams: It’s time to rebuild the Bucks defense with an impact free agent
Bucks GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
For the first time since before the Super Bowl LV season, the Bucks will enter the offseason without a large group of high-priority free agents to re-sign. Because of that, and because he’s slated to end up in a better position on the cap, the team should be able to spend a little more money. Some of that should go toward re-signing Chris Godwin, but once that’s taken care of, rebuilding the defense with some impactful free agents could be a new year worth making for Tampa Bay. It will be a decision.
The Bucks finished with a record of 10 wins and 7 losses, one win away from winning their fourth consecutive NFC South division title. If they can do that, they’ll beat last year’s total by one, and they’ll have done it with poor play from the defense.
There’s a lack of pass rush on the outside, inside linebackers can’t cover the middle of the field, and the flat out secondary isn’t working well enough. Why not strengthen your pass rush with proven items? Add a veteran inside linebacker to strengthen one spot and add Servosia Dennis (and potentially another) to the other spot. How about adding one (while drafting a linebacker)? Why not spend some money on a veteran cornerback?
Assuming Tampa Bay can get its defense up to speed again for 2024 and accomplish one of its other major resolutions, keeping offensive coordinator Liam Cohen (as one of my colleagues wrote here ), but it could happen. They are in contention for a spot in the 2025 Super Bowl. If they keep Cohen and continue their top-five offense next year, and indeed combine that with a good defense, the Bucks will move closer to the top of the list. Number of NFC candidates. Jason Licht and the front office will have to find a way to make it all happen in the coming months.
Josh Quapo: Retaining the special talent that is Liam Cohen
Bucks OC Liam Cohen and co-chairman Joel Glazer – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
It’s no secret that I was a fan of former Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales. I thought he was a smart mind who brought some needed improvements to the Bucs’ scheme, especially in the passing game. When he left for the head coaching job in Carolina, I was skeptical that Liam Cohen could step in and be just as good from a process standpoint. Boy, was I wrong! Cohen was much more than that. And it’s that process that made me so (more) impressed with Cohen.
There are now several Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan disciples across the NFL. Many people have had varying degrees of success. Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell and Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur highlight the group. Atlanta’s Zach Robinson is starting to heat up now that he’s rid of the ghost of Kirk Cousins. But it’s not as simple as finding someone who has worked in one of these two and saying, “Here we go.” Canales had/was having a hard time. And Houston’s Bobby Slowik could be the center of attention.
Go past the plan. Cohen does. He reinvented the run game a quarter of the way through the season. Cohen is reinventing the play-action game from there as we speak. Shanahan is no longer running a big wide zone scheme. Neither does McVeigh. Planning doesn’t make them great. It’s the ability to reinvent themselves and the offense in response to defensive league trends while modifying to suit the talent they have. Cohen has the same characteristics. That’s one of the most distinctive traits of a great coach. What are you going to do when Plan A doesn’t work? What do Plan B, C, and Plan R look like?
Great organizations retain special talent. Liam Cohen has a special talent. Let’s take a look at some more statistics that are certainly impressive. Look at his process. It’s special. he is special The Bucs need to commit to staying special in Tampa Bay.
Adam Slivon: Adding defensive star via trade
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and Raiders DE Maxx Crosby – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Bucks general manager Jason Richt made flashy free agent signings and trades at a time when he was maximizing his playoff chances. Look no further than when Tampa Bay signed Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette and Ndamukong Suh during Tom Brady’s tenure. On the trade front, Richt moved draft capital to Rob Gronkowski and Jason Pierre-Paul. All of these moves paid off, and the team should consider doing it again.
With Baker Mayfield at the helm, the team is back in the playoff picture. The offense appears to have plenty of building blocks and weapons if Liam Cohen continues to stick around. However, the defense could use some upgrades. It’s been a largely disappointing year in this aspect of the football, with inside linebacker play, lack of outside pass rush, and patchy byproducts. Things may change if you make a big deal.
We need help in each area, but we want to focus on the outside pass rush. Myles Garrett and two big names max crosby It would improve things a lot upfront. Garrett remains at the top of his game, but with the Browns struggling, he could find a new home and return to Mayfield’s team. Crosby is in a similar position, with the Raiders far from being a playoff contender in a tough division. Both cost a significant amount of money and draft capital, but adding one of them would show the team is serious about making a Super Bowl run and would improve the play of the defenders around them. . Now is the time to consider a move at this level and pull the trigger if the price is right.
