By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened the season with cautious optimism. The hiring of Bruce Arians and staff brought a renewal light to Buccaneers fans.

That light flickered all season with glimpses of future hopes.

The Buccaneers finished the season 7-9 record and 3rd place in the NFC South division. The Buc’s were awful at home with a 2-6 record compared to a 5-3 road record.

The Bucs’ season was capped off with a 28-22 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons. This game was a microcosm of the Buc’s season.

The Buc’s took a 22-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.  The Falcon tied the game late in the 4th quarter with a Younghoe Koo field goal to send the game into overtime.

On the first possession of overtime, Bucs’ quarterback Jameis Winston threw his league leading 30th interception, a pick 6 for the Falcons. Game over, season over.

Jameis Winston was the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Buccaneers fans cheered that they finally had a franchise quarterback. Winston was selected to his first Pro Bowl game making him the first rookie quarterback in Buccaneer history to be selected. Promising, right?

This season he led the NFL in passing yards with 5,109 and interceptions with 30. He is the first player in NFL history to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season.

Winston made history on his final throw of the year with his seventh pick 6 of the season. Winston’s first and last pass as a Buc were both pick 6’s.

His five years in Tampa Bay have been nothing short of a nauseating roller coaster, with captivating highs and head scratching lows.

Don’t get me wrong, the Buccaneers have many holes to fill on their roster. Coach Bruce Arians and General Manager Jason Licht have a difficult decision at the game’s most important position this offseason, as quarterback Jameis Winston’s contract has expired.

The Buccaneers should have hope for Winston, despite his shortcomings at quarterback. He had a career year in his first season under Bruce Arians. Turnovers have plagued him throughout his NFL career, as Winston has thrown 88 interceptions and had 50 fumbles in 72 games.

Coach Bruce Arians’ season ending press conference addressed Jameis Winston’s pick 6 to end the season, “It smells as bad as it could possibly smell and it’ll smell that way for a long time.”

Here is the question Buccaneers fans: Is a 5,000 yard quarterback still worth 30 million a year if he can’t consistently win?

The Buccaneers must make a decision about Winston quickly so they can focus on other possible free agents.

Jason Pierre-Paul, Carl Nassib, Shaq Barrett, Ndamukong Suh, Demar Dotson and Breshard Perriman are all potential free agents that the Bucs must resign.

Offensive line and secondary must be addressed in the draft and free agency.

The Bucs offensive line was nowhere near NFL caliber. They ranked 24th in rushing yards per game and gave up 47 sacks this season.

After the Bucs released former first round draft pick Vernon Hargreaves, the trio of Jamel Dean, Carlton Davis, and Sean Murphy-Bunting began to produce some nice numbers with 31 pass deflections, 3 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions. In a pass happy NFL, you cannot have enough quality defensive backs.

The Bucs have not made the playoffs since 2008. Will 2020 be the year?