All things considered, the 2025 offseason has gone pretty well for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so far. Veteran wide receiver Chris Godwin agreed to re-sign long-term with the team, and longtime captain Lavonte David signed another one-year deal as he pushed back the retirement question another offseason. Tampa Bay’s incumbent stars — quarterback Baker Mayfield, running back Bucky Irving, and wide receiver Mike Evans — are all under contract for several more seasons.
But the Buccaneers fell in the Wild Card Round to the Washington Commanders despite winning the NFC South for the fourth straight season, with their secondary especially getting picked apart by rookie sensation Jayden Daniels. Tampa Bay will need to prioritize its defense in the first round on Thursday, and as such, it’s not a surprise that the three most likely positions for the Buccaneers’ first-round draft pick at DraftKings Sportsbook all on the defensive side of the ball: defensive line (+135), linebacker (+190), and cornerback (+450).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers first round pick prediction
I wrote a preview on Tampa Bay’s offseason before free agency opened, and it has since assuaged my biggest concern by re-signing Godwin. Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III had widely been mocked to Central Florida at that point, but now, there are just +1400 odds that the Buccaneers will take a wideout in the first round. There’s really no need for Tampa Bay to go in that direction, at least until Evans retires; for now, both Evans and Godwin rank among the league’s top 10 wide receivers, according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system.
Edge rush was somewhat of a concern for the Buccaneers entering the offseason. Although they operated the league’s third-most blitz-heavy scheme and recorded the seventh-most sacks, seventh-most knockdowns, and fifth-most hurries, veterans Will Gholston, Anthony Nelson, and Shaquil Barrett were both free agents. Tampa Bay re-signed Nelson — the best and youngest of the trio — and added former All-Pro outside linebacker Haason Reddick, while both Gholston and Barrett are sitting in free agency still. The Buccaneers could use edge depth behind Yaya Diaby and Reddick, though, and nose tackle Vita Vea could also use a more reliable partner than Logan Hall and Calijah Kancey.
But it was mostly in coverage that Tampa Bay struggled, an issue that starts at the linebacker position. The Buccaneers allowed the second-most receiving yards in the league to tight ends in 2024, and in addition to coverage being the weakest part of David’s game, Tampa Bay’s other main inside linebacker, Anthony Walker, was the fifth-worst coverage defender among 84 qualified linebackers in PFF’s database. The Buccaneers also could use improvements in the secondary, allowing the seventh-most receiving yards and 10th-most receiving touchdowns to wide receivers last season. It just depends on who’s going to be available with the 19th overall pick, unless they trade up.
It seems like a 50-50 shot that one of Texas’ Jahdae Barron or Michigan’s Will Johnson will be available with the 19th pick, and given its issues in coverage last season, I’d like to think Tampa Bay snags one of them if they’re still on the board. Similarly, Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell is the only inside linebacker who’d be worthy of the selection, and the 19th pick is considered his floor. The edge rushing class seems to be deepest among the Buccaneers’ needs, and they’ve been widely linked with Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku in recent weeks.
The obvious and unsexy thing to do would be to play a numbers game and figure that Tampa Bay will add to its versatile edge rushing collection, providing flexibility once Reddick’s one-year deal is up. But there’s a very real chance Barron is going to fall, and he makes too much sense in the Buccaneers’ system.
BEST BET: TB to select a cornerback with 1st pick (+450)
