Five Ways NFL Free Agency Has Already Impacted the Buc’s 2021 Season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done an impressive job of "keeping the band together" despite the threat of free agency decimating their Super Bowl roster. Chris Godwin, Lavonte David, Shaquil Barrett, Rob Gronkowski, Ryan Succop, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Kevin Minter and Aaron Stinnie have all had their services secured for a 2021 title defense, and there are reports of several more signings to come.

Meanwhile, as the Buccaneers have focused on re-signing their own core contributors, there has been plenty of player movement around the NFL since free agency began on March 17. Joe Thuney is now a Chief and Corey Linsley has joined him in the AFC West by signing with the Chargers. Kyle Fuller got dropped by the Bears for cap reasons and immediately signed on with the Broncos. The Patriots did a decade's worth of free agency in a week. And so on.

Tampa Bay's chances of successfully defending its title and becoming the first back-to-back champs since Tom Brady's Patriots in 2003-04 improved with their internal work in and around free agency. However, 31 other teams are making moves to try to keep that from happening, and some of those moves will have a direct effect on Tampa Bay this fall. Here are five ways the first rush of free agency (plus a couple trades) have altered the landscape for the Buccaneers in 2021:

1. An Old Friend and an Old Foe.

2. More Challenges for the Secondary.

3. A Rebuilt Line in Carolina.

4. More QB Shuffling on Bucs' Docket.

5. Imbalance on the Edge.