Bucs Would Be Wise To Draft A Tight End In 2023

It’s no secret that the Bucs have a plethora of needs this offseason.

Whether they roll with 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask under center or not, they will need a veteran quarterback to come in and compete with him. At the very least, they need to fill out the quarterback room behind Trask.

The potential for Leonard Fournette to be a cap casualty feels high, so Tampa Bay will be in the market for a running back. At wide receiver, the Bucs have Julio Jones, Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman hitting free agency. So, even if Russell Gage doesn’t become a cap casualty, the receiver room needs help.

On defense, the Bucs need help up front. They also need to revamp their pass rush in addition to making a decision on Lavonte David. If David doesn’t return for year 12 in Tampa Bay, inside linebacker becomes a glaring need. And with so many free agents in the secondary, there are bound to be some holes to fill there as well.

So, yes, the Bucs will be busy this offseason. They have plenty of needs. But one major need that is perhaps being overlooked comes at the tight end position. With new offensive coordinator Dave Canales figuring to run a good bit of 12 personnel, the Bucs have some work to do with their tight end room. And it’s work that might be best carried out through the 2023 NFL Draft.

Bucs Will Be Thin At Tight End Heading Into Free Agency

Bucs TE Cam Brate – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs’ tight end group is incomplete as it is. Veteran Kyle Rudolph is a free agent after a forgettable one-year stint in Tampa. Cameron Brate is around for now, but he’s a universal pick to be a cap cut sooner rather than later.

That leaves 2022 fourth-round pick Cade Otton and 2022 sixth-rounder Ko Kieft as the remaining tight ends on the roster who have seen the field for Tampa Bay. David Wells, a San Diego State product, was on the Bucs’ practice squad last year and signed a reserve/future contract with the team in January. Dominique Dafney was also signed to a reserve/future contract last month.

Otton is far and away the best tight end on the Bucs’ roster. He had a strong rookie season, leading all rookie tight ends with 42 receptions while totaling 391 yards and two key touchdowns. And while he has to find some consistency in his game going forward, he’s set to be Tampa Bay’s TE1 in 2023.

Meanwhile, assuming Brate is let go in the coming weeks, Kieft would be the de facto TE2. But it’s unlikely to stay that way. As much as the former Minnesota man offers as a run blocker, he’s a limited pass catcher. He’s still likely to have a place on the roster given Canales’ need for tight ends who contribute in the run game, but the Bucs are better off slotting him in as TE3 while finding a new TE2 — or someone who takes over TE1 duties and bumps the promising Otton to a TE1a or TE2 role.

Free Agency Is Unlikely To Yield A Viable Tight End Option For Tampa Bay

Looking at the tight end landscape in free agency, it’s slim pickings — at least as far as players the Bucs can afford.

Tampa Bay is about $56 million over the cap right now, so big-money tight ends like Dalton Schultz and Mike Gesicki are off the table. Foster Moreau, Hayden Hurst, Evan Engram, Austin Hooper and Robert Tonyan may not be in the team’s price range either. Then again, the team’s “price range” for a borderline TE1 or TE2 isn’t going to be expansive.

So, where does that leave the Bucs in terms of adding a free agent tight end? Signing one for the league minimum or just above it seems like the way forward, but the guys you’re getting at those prices are more so safety blankets than reliable, starting-caliber tight ends. Signing one of them and calling it a day would be risky. So, given the cap situation and the lack of surefire free agents who could be in play for Tampa Bay, all eyes turn to the draft.

The 2023 Tight End Class Is A Strong One, Which Bodes Well For Bucs

Oregon State TE Luke Musgrave – Photo by: USA TODAY Sports

It’s a good year to need a tight end in the NFL Draft. It might be one of the deepest positions in the 2023 draft class, in fact. That’s good news for the Bucs, who are likely to add another rookie tight end to the squad.

There are multiple first-round options to consider, especially picking in the second half of the round at 19th overall. Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer was the Bucs’ first-round pick in the “Dave Canales’ Ideal Bucs Draft” exercise Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds wrote this week. Utah’s Dalton Kincaid is in the upper tier of the tight end class as well, and he appears especially enticing given how well he would complement what Otton does well for the Bucs. And then there’s Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave, who spoke highly of Otton at the Senior Bowl. He’s likely to be an early pick on day two, if not a potential first-rounder himself.

Georgia’s Darnell Washington, Iowa’s Sam LaPorta, Ohio State’s Cade Stover and South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft are projected day two picks of interest as well. But if the Bucs choose to wait on a tight end, they can probably afford to do so with this class. Day three candidates include a run-blocking ace in Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford, a contested-catch king in Clemson’s Davis Allen and a speedy, receiving-minded option in Miami’s Will Mallory.

Purdue’s Payne Durham is another name to keep an eye on. He starred in Mobile at the Senior Bowl earlier this month and was the Bucs’ sixth-round pick in our Pewter Report Mock Draft 2.0, which was published in mid-February.

Combine the 12 personnel looks Canales will want to run, the lack of a true TE2 on the roster, the team’s cap situation, the lack of worthwhile affordable options in free agency and an incredibly strong tight end class, and it becomes a pretty safe bet that the Bucs will draft a tight end come April. And it’ll make life that much easier for whoever ends up quarterbacking Tampa Bay in 2023 and beyond.

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