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After the team's loss to the Los in the divisional round of the playoffs, Bruce Arians said he doesn't see the team rebuilding but rather reloading.
He acknowledged that re-signing all 22 starters on offense and defense will be difficult, something that hadn't been done since the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1979.
"Our priority in free agency will be our guys -- see how many that we can get back and then build a team from there," he said Monday. I always look forward to the draft. Each year is different. It was amazing to get everyone back last year. I don't think we can do it all again, but we will give it our best.
Wide receiver Chris Godwin, tight end Rob Gronkowski, running backs Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones and Giovani Bernard are all set to become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins. Twelve of those players are older than 30.
The salary-cap space of the Bucs is 22nd in the league, according to the roster management system. They were able to retain every starter on offense and defense from their Super Bowl-winning team because they only had $13 million to spend in free agency.
After signing one-year contracts the past two seasons, tight end Rob Gronkowski said Monday that he will take the next three to five weeks to make a decision.
The process of the season, of losing the playoffs, whatever it is, the emotions are flying high, your feelings all over the place last night to today. It's kind of an emotional battle seeing all the guys. I don't think you can make a decision in that mindset. Take some time off, recover, let the body heal, see where your thoughts are, give it a couple weeks and then go from there.
Brady isn't a free agent as he's under contract through the 2022 season, but sources close to the quarterback told Jeff and Adam that he is considering retirement. He said on his "Let's Go" show that family will be an important part of the decision.
The team will give him time to think about his options. The other players the Bucs have at the position are happy with, but they will look at outside free agents.
We'll wait and see what Tom does. "We'll be doing our homework, that's for sure."
"You never know what's behind Door No. 2, but I like what we have," he said. Two years ago, we went down that road and there was Tom Brady. We will have to wait and see.
If Brady doesn't return, there could be a scenario where he'd consider coming back, even if he didn't. He finished the season with a few bumps. He missed five games this season because of cracked ribs and a punctured lung. He likes the mix of youth and experience in the locker room. He needs some time to figure it out.
"I need time to myself, and the decision of playing football is not something that I can really do," he said. Tom's going to do the same thing. I'm sure he needs time to himself to see where he's at, but we'll see in a couple of weeks. Right now, I have to heal up and see where I'm at.
Pierre-Paul said he'll wait to make a decision on whether he'll continue playing until after he undergoes surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Jensen, who has been with the team for the past four years, wants to stay.
"Obviously, I love it here, it's my home," Jensen said. We'll figure out what's going on. We have a little bit of time to figure things out and move forward.
The realities of possible player and coaching departures are not the only ones facing the Bucs. Leftwich is scheduled for a second interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their head-coaching position on Tuesday and also interviewed with the Chicago Bears. Todd Bowles has interviewed with several teams.
"I've gone through a number of different scenarios in the last few weeks, just in case, and we'll have to wait and see," he said.
One of the conditions of him returning to coaching after retiring was that he be given offensive playcalling duties. He said that if Leftwich left, he would take the role back. He thinks he could handle the role by shifting some of his responsibilities to his staff, who have been with him for a long time.
"It would be a number of different things, just with who is on the staff and what we're doing, [how] we're compiled and doing the meeting each day and all those things that go with it,'" he said." I wouldn't be doing that. It's just a matter of who and what happens in the next few weeks, how we put that staff together.
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