Welcome to the the midway point of the NFL season. This is the fun time where teams that are good are supposed to go out and add to their roster, while the bad teams have fans and pundits saying they need to start unloading talent to acquire draft picks and begin the preparations for next season because this season’s hopes and dreams are finished. So which team are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Bad? Yes.
Out of contention? No.
The decision of whether or not to be sellers cant be talked through without mention
of the NFC South.
Since the departure of Tom Brady, the NFC South has been NFC South-ing at a high level. The division has only had one double-digit victor since 2021 and hasn’t won a postseason game since 2023. This year’s rendition of the South, has Tampa Bay in third place with just two wins after seven games— The difference between the third place Buccaneers and the second place Falcons? This Sunday’s game. Carolina remains out in front, however, Tampa has the current tiebreaker over Carolina and all of ther other division games to go.
The ineptitude of the NFC South makes Jason Licht’s decision difficult. It would be sincerely simple for Tampa to throw in the towel at 2-5 if they were in the NFC West, the NFC North, or even the NFC East. Each of those divisions would have the Buccaneers in third or tied for last needing to work all the way to a winning record in order to compete. That is just not necessarily the case in the NFC South— There’s a fairly decent chance a team with a record closer to, perhaps even below, .500 snags the divison crown. The Buccaneers would need quite a turn around down the stretch to finish with a winning season, but seven wins? That feels possible and because those seven wins are a possibility, it may hold Jason Licht back from moving any major pieces at this year’s deadline.
