Todd Bowles offers major hint regarding Buccaneers' plan for NFL Draft

It's no secret that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be looking to address the defensive side of the ball early and often during the 2025 NFL Draft.

In 2024, the Buccaneers' offense was the story. Finishing top five in practically every important category by season's end, Tampa Bay proved to have one of the most talented, well-balanced and productive offenses in the league.

The defense, on the other hand, was one of the league's worst. A plethora of injuries to key players created a lack of continuity, and with inexperienced players thrust into key spots, the Bucs' defense was simply not consistent or effective last season.

Although the team has made some valuable additions to that side of the ball through free agency, there is still work to be done. And with the entire starting offense set to return, the expectation is rightfully in place for the Buccaneers to invest heavily in defense during this year's draft.

During the NFL Owners meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles took some time to field questions from the media on Tuesday. When asked about the cornerback depth on the team, Bowles did not shy away from providing an honest assessment.

"We don't have a lot of depth. I mean, that's crystal clear. We don't have a lot of depth," stated Bowles. "We hope to address that at some point in the draft as well, obviously, and we didn't sign many in free agency."

Bowles then acknowledged the players they did sign, but didn't back track on his comments, "We signed [Kindle] Vildor, we signed back Bryce [Hall], he's coming off an injury, we've got to see what Vindor can do, obviously, but we've got to address that in the draft."

Not only did the Bucs' defensive minded head coach come right out and acknowledge a lack of depth at corner, but he made it crystal clear that the team will be targeting the position in this year's draft.

Is that surprising? Not necessarily. Most people expected the Buccaneers to address corner in the draft. But the fact that Bowles was so critical of the team's depth when asked about the position, and so candid regarding the team's intentions to address it in the draft, tells us that corner may be a higher priority for the team than we realized.

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