Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles says the team isn’t rebuilding after Tampa Bay’s disastrous 8-9 season

After a troubled season on offense that culminated in a troubling offensive display against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles avoided saying his team would need to rebuild.

The spring of 2023 won’t be the easiest offseason for Buccaneers fans, especially after the 2021 season’s 13-4 campaign was followed by a mediocre 8-9 season that saw Tampa Bay narrowly win the championship. rotten NFC South.

But even with an uncertain future on offense, with more questions than answers, Bowles was adamant that his team wasn’t rebuilding.

‘Never rebuild. You always reload,” he said after the loss, via the official transcript. ‘You feel like you have a chance to win every year. You just have to modify a few things from a schematic point of view in every way: attack, defense and special teams.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles insisted his team is ‘reloading’ in 2023

Bowles oversaw a lackluster 8-9 season in his first season in charge of Tampa Bay

“Obviously nobody comes back with every player on the team, so we’ll have some new faces here.” That’s just part of the game.

The Tampa Bay front office, along with Bowles, has a number of big decisions to make if it is to legitimately maintain that “chance to win every year” as the coach suggests.

For starters, Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time and the team’s leader for three seasons, seems ready to leave the team.

Whether that’s via free agency or retirement isn’t exactly clear, as the quarterback decided not to commit to a direct path to his podium future at last night’s press conference.

With teams like the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly set to “aggressively pursue” the 45-year-old after one of his worst statistical seasons as a starter, Brady will remain a popular man and hot topic once free agency opens.

The biggest question facing the Buccaneers surrounds the future of quarterback Tom Brady.

Elsewhere on offense, the running game, led by Leonard Fournette, was the worst in the NFL.

Outside of Brady, the Buccaneers need to address multiple issues they experienced on offense this season.

While Brady and co. they averaged 269.8 passing yards per game, good enough to be second best in the league, they had the worst rushing attack in the NFL as the only team to average less than 80 rushing yards per game.

The running staff of Leonard Fournette, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Rachaad White failed to impress all this season, and Tampa may look to fix that.

Meanwhile, the offensive line struggled with injuries. While they allowed a league-low 22 sacks, their lack of run-blocking up front hurt them.

Defensively, while the team did passably, finishing in the middle of the pack in all statistical categories, they face the potential loss of the likes of William Gholston, Akiem Hicks and linebacker Lavonte David.

Questions also surround the defense, which is ready to see starters like Lavonte David go.