As the new season approaches, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have collective and individual milestones within arm’s reach that they will be looking to hit as the season progresses. Whether personal or team accolades, they’ll bring merit and recognition to a team looking to improve upon last season and steadily progress toward becoming one of the best teams in the league again, just like they were when they won their last Super Bowl in 2020.
Here are some storylines to follow in the upcoming season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Storylines to Watch Out For in 2024
The Team Looks for its Fourth Straight Division Title
The team’s success in the NFC South goes all the way back to 2021 when they won their first divisional title since 2007. Although they did win the Super Bowl in 2020, they didn’t win the division as they finished second to the New Orleans Saints, whom they would eventually beat in the Divisional Round. The Bucs head into the season looking for their fourth straight divisional title, a title that would extend the franchise’s most-ever consecutive titles record, as they had never won consecutive titles before 2022. This is extremely doable, as they figure as the second-favorites to win the division only behind the Atlanta Falcons with +310 odds, per FanDuel.
NFL teams with long consecutive division title-winning runs are not unheard of. Most notably, the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots won a league-record 11 consecutive division titles between 2009 and 2019 before being dethroned by the Buffalo Bills, who would in turn go on to win four consecutive titles between 2020 and 2023 and will look to win their fifth one in 2024. More recently, the Kansas City Chiefs have won eight consecutive AFC West titles dating back to 2016 and will look for their ninth next season. The point here is that there are teams who have had more impressive runs than the Buccaneers, and it wouldn’t be crazy to think they could extend their streak and maybe keep it going for longer.
Baker Mayfield Will Look to Cement Himself as the Team’s QB1
The Buccaneers took a gamble and signed quarterback Baker Mayfield ahead of the 2023 season on a one-year, $4 million contract as Mayfield struggled to find a team that would give him consistent play so he could prove his value as a candidate for a starting job in the league. It’s safe to say the gamble paid off for the Bucs, as he posted career-high numbers in completion percentage (64.3%), passing yards (4044), and passing touchdowns (28), was selected to his career-first Pro Bowl, and earned himself a new contract worth $100 million through three years. The Bucs trusted Mayfield to lead the way of their offense, and Mayfield will look to respond accordingly as he heads into his age-29 season and tries to secure a long-term starting job in the NFL.
Antonio Grier Jr. Returns to Tampa
It wasn’t that long ago when we saw former South Florida Bulls linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul return to Tampa after spending eight years in the New York Giants following his graduation from USF. Now, we see a similar situation, as another former Bull is making its way back to Tampa after a year away. This time it’s Antonio Grier Jr., who played linebacker for the Bulls between 2018 and 2022, before earning redshirt status due to a season-ending injury and transferring to Arkansas for the final year of his college career.
Grier was overlooked and went undrafted in this year’s draft, but the Bucs decided to sign him as an undrafted free agent and he immediately showed the team why they made the right decision. Per Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, Grier made “a solid first impression with the Bucs” and could make the 53-man roster ahead of the NFL’s final cutdown date on August 27th. He has three weeks of preseason to try to make that solid first impression stick with the team, and if he does, he could become the 43rd former Bull to put on an NFL uniform.
Main Image: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
