By Jordan Long
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have their new quarterback in Tom Brady. Brady agreed to a contract with Tampa Bay which ends the Jameis Winston era. With that, free agent players could join Brady in Tampa Bay. One who could be in the market to do so is running back Dion Lewis.
Lewis is a veteran running back who has played 7 years in the NFL for 3 teams, the Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and Tennessee Titans. He was with the Titans last year as the backup to Derrick Henry. Last year Lewis rushed for an unimpressive 209 yards and didn’t score a touchdown.
What helped the Titans during their playoff run was his ability to catch the football in the open field. Lewis would sneak out of the backfield. Defenses wouldn’t cover him which left him wide open. He caught 25 passes for 164 yards and 1 touchdown.
Tampa Bay might be a landing spot for him. Lewis is familiar with Brady spending 2015 to 2017 with him in New England. He knows how to block for Brady so he has time to find his open receiver. He can also run the football to take the pressure off of Brady. This familiarity may be the key for the Buccaneers to win games in 2020.
The problem is running back is not a need for Tampa Bay during the NFL offseason. They have 4 running backs under contract. Those are Ronald Jones, T.J. Logan, Dare Ogunbowale, and Aca’Cedric Ware. Jones is expected to be the starter. He is entering his 3rd NFL season all with Tampa Bay. He rushed for 768 yards with 7 touchdowns in his career.
The passing game is where Jones is dangerous. He can catch the football and make defenders miss. Those are first downs or longer. Jones totaled 342 receiving yards in his career with an impressive yards per catch of 9 yards but he has yet to score a touchdown.
Tampa Bay should look at other positions than running back to improve during free agency now that they have agreed to terms with Brady. The backup quarterback position is one they need to look at. After Brady, the only quarterback on the roster is Ryan Griffin. Tampa Bay can either look at free agency again or draft one in April. The Buccaneers are a better team with Brady but more changes are needed to become a playoff team in 2020.
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