The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ chances of fielding a competitive team were dealt a serious blow once again on Sunday night after Ali Marpet announced he was retiring from the NFL at just 28 years old. With Marpet gone and center Ryan Jensen, and guard Alex Cappa potentially moving on in free agency, the Buccaneers are in jeopardy of losing their entire interior offensive line.
For the past few years, the Buccaneers have had one of the more dominant offensive lines in the league. The quartet of Marpet, Jensen, Cappa, and offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Donovon Smith were an important component of the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl triumph, providing smashmouth blocking in the run game while allowing Tom Brady ample time to dice up opposing defenses.
Brady was sacked just 20 times in the 2020 NFL season, and while that was partly due to his ability to make quick, precise reads and getting the ball out early – on average, he got the ball out in 2.39 seconds, the third-quickest average time to throw in the NFL in 2020- it was mostly due to the impressive offensive line.
In 2021, Brady was sacked two more times than in 2020, but that was still the lowest amount by any quarterback who played in more than 14 games. His average time to throw was one of the lowest in the league again, but the offensive line still played a big part in that success.
That’s the way it’s been even before the Buccaneers were in contention for a Super Bowl. The interior trio of Marpet, Jensen, and Cappa has been playing together consistently for three seasons now, while Jensen and Marpet have formed a formidable duo since 2018. In the trio’s first season together, they allowed just 69 total pressures and seven sacks between them.
In their three full seasons together as the Buccaneers offensive interior, they’ve allowed an average of 8 sacks and 76 pressures between them. They might not strike you as elite numbers, but Marpet and Cappa both had a PFF offensive grade in the top 20 of all guards in 2021, while Jensen was 14th out of 39 possible linemen. PFF grades aren’t perfect, but they give us a rough idea of the talent at hand.
Even losing one of those players to free agency would be a big blow to the continuity of the offensive line, no matter how good Wirfs has become at right tackle, or how well Donovan Smith has done to bounce back. Losing all three, though? That would set the team back a few years. It’s fine signing free agents or drafting rookies to replace any or all of Jensen, Marpet, and Cappa, but it takes time to build up the level of trust and chemistry that trio had. You can’t replicate it overnight.
It’ll also be a harder pill to swallow for the Bucs since Brady won’t be under center for them in 2022 after retiring at the end of last season. Whoever the new quarterback of the Buccaneers is could potentially have a vastly different offensive line, and likely one that won’t be as good as the one Brady enjoyed.
Jensen and Cappa could still both stay, but the Buccaneers have some other pressing free agents like Chris Godwin, Carlton Davis, as well as valuable depth pieces. However, Marpet’s retirement means they are guaranteed to be one interior lineman down, and objectively, Marpet is probably the best of the bunch.
As a whole, the Buccaneers are likely to take a real step back next year and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Jensen, who will be 31 while playing a physically demanding position, jump off a potentially sinking ship in the hope of signing with a contender. The same could be said with Cappa, who could cash in on a strong 2021 season.
If that happens, the Buccaneers would lose massive pieces of their core in a matter of days. That’s a devastating blow that could signal larger changes to come for the Tampa Bay franchise.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @ThomasValenfine
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.