NFC South Odds Shifting For Buccaneers Following First Week of Free Agency
With every offseason, there is bound to be a shift in the balance of power throughout each NFL conference and division. Teams who were elite in their division and conference one year may find it hard to replicate what they had before, meanwhile, those teams who weren't as fortunate to have a good season will be looking to add players to their team with the hopes of one day winning their division.
Part of the offseason has already unfolded as free agency got underway last week, and with a few splash signings, there looks to be a new favorite to win the NFC South.
Across numerous sportsbooks, including Hard Rock, FanDuel and DraftKings, Vegas has the Atlanta Falcons as the favorites to win the division sitting anywhere around -110 to -130. The Buccaneers have the second-best odds to win NFC South at +300, with the Saints (around +380) and Panthers (around +1250) rounding out the bottom half of the division.
The Buccaneers did a fantastic job of bringing back star players to work on running things back after closing out the 2023 season winning their third consecutive divisional crown. With what they were able to accomplish last year and what was expected this offseason, the Buccaneers looked to be shoe-in to be the favorites in 2024.
That expected "shoe-in" was all but such, as the Atlanta Falcons decided to start over from scratch by hiring a new coaching staff and then deciding to go a different direction at the QB position by signing veteran free agent Kirk Cousins.
The move seems familiar.
The New Orleans Saints went out and signed QB Derek Carr to become their starter and immediately jumped to the head of the line as the favorites to win the division — we all saw how that turned out. With a fresh face at QB, it is still yet to be known how things will play out, but it goes to show that a splash move such as bringing in an elite-level type of quarterback can and will drastically swing the odds in your favor.
If things play out similarly to how they did last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be more than happy, as it looks like the entire division has improved this offseason. The Buccaneers should, however, have a leg up on most of their rivals in the division as they carry the most cohesiveness over from the 2023 season.
Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2024 offseason.
