Buccaneers' Working to Retain Key Defensive Free Agents
During the annual NFL meeting taking place in Phoenix, Arizona this week, most NFL head coaches took some time to field questions from reporters.
With it being the offseason, it's obvious that many of these coaches were in somewhat of a relaxed frame of mind, at least compared to the pressure that consumes them during the NFL regular season. It's a nice opportunity for media members — if they're lucky — to capture some information from coaches that may not have been public knowledge beforehand.
This was the case with Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach, Todd Bowles, who offered up some valuable insight regarding the team's current priorities in free agency.
Early this week, Bowles unveiled the team's desire to try and retain several free-agent defensive linemen.
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When discussing the status of the team's defensive line depth — after acknowledging the anticipated return of Shaq Barrett, and the acquisition of free agent DT, Greg Gaines — Bowles alluded to the possibility of Akiem Hicks coming back to Tampa.
“We still have [Akiem] Hicks out there hopefully,” Bowles said. “We’ll try to get as many good football players as we can, and then if we have needs we’ll try to fill those going forward.”
Hicks wasn't able to make the impact in Tampa that many had envisioned. Which was largely due to the six games he missed to injury in 2022, which has unfortunately become a bit of a regularity for Hicks in recent seasons. That said, there's no denying the impact he brings to the interior of a defense, especially when playing in tandem with a disruptive force like Vita Vea.
Bowles hit on this too.
“He’s someone on our radar,” Bowles said. “We’re still keeping in touch and we’ll see how those things go. When he was healthy I thought he was very good. I thought he performed well and he fit in great. Him and Vita [Vea] are a very good force in there, and we’ll see going forward.”
Hicks wasn't the only defensive tackle that Bowles acknowledged having an interest in retaining. Longtime Buccaneer, and a valuable depth piece for Bowles' defensive rotation, Will Gholston, was also discussed.
“Yeah, Will is an option, too,” Bowles said. “We’re in the middle of the process. We have guys out there. Obviously, we had to cut some money and we have to work some tricks. Jason [Licht] has done a good job so far with that. We’ll navigate it going forward, but we’re still early in the process. There is still a lot to be done.”
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Bowles was also asked about the idea of bringing back veteran defensive back, Logan Ryan, to which he responded, "That's an option as well."
The fact that Tampa Bay is interested in retaining the services of valuable veteran defenders from last year's team should be music to the ears of Bucs fans everywhere, who already have the right to feel optimistic following the negotiated contracts of key free agents, Jamel Dean, and Lavonte David.
There's no doubt that each of Akiem Hicks, Will Gholston, and Logan Ryan could provide valuable depth to a Buccaneers' defense that is looking to have an even better season in 2023 than they did last year.
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