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The 2025 season kicks off Thursday, August 28 at 5:30 p.m. against Boise State!
Regardless of how anyone feels about cornerback Jamel Dean and his production and status with the Bucs, we can all appreciate his candidness throughout the years in media interviews. Dean has been around long enough to be on a Super Bowl-winning team in Tampa Bay during the 2020 season, so he knows what a championship team looks like.
But this year’s team? A 2025 Tampa Bay squad with a chip on its shoulder? A group returns an entire starting offense plus a first-round receiver, and a defense that signed a double-digit sacker and drafted a few talented defensive backs that have pushed this secondary to record interception after interception in camp?
Well, Dean believes that these Buccaneers could be even better than the one that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy just a few seasons ago.
Jamel Dean Offers Up A Hot Take On The 2025 Buccaneers
“I always think back to that year and think about the team we had and compare it to this team,” Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean said. [They are] very similar, but I think we are better than the team that won the Super Bowl. The camaraderie and how we all plan together — everyone has this grit to them where we just want to keep competing and help each other get better.”
Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Dean is right about the similarities that particularly come from the secondary. The 2020 Tampa Bay secondary had a young nucleus that worked together, playing a big role in the team winning it all. Dean and Antoine Winfield Jr. are still on the roster from the Super Bowl team, while Carlton Davis III, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Mike Edwards were all on their first contracts in the NFL during the 2020 season.
The 2025 team just drafted cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison in the second round and Jacob Parrish in the third round. Tampa Bay has all the trust in the world in second-year safety Tykee Smith, while third-year players Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather have shown significant improvements at safety during this training camp.
Dean spoke about how the young players, Morrison and Parrish in particular, have looked.
“They are going to be a great asset to us because they are coming in with a great mindset,” Dean said. “We already understand that they are competitors, and they are going out there and keep bettering themselves and learning.”
Bucs CB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The camaraderie that Dean was talking about is probably even tighter knit than it was on the Super Bowl-winning team in 2020. The offensive line has been lauded for how close of a group they’ve been and that’s been important for bringing new offensive tackle Charlie Heck along.
Comparing The 2020 Bucs Team To The 2025 Squad
Despite the talent that the 2020 Super Bowl-winning team had in 2020, the 2025 Buccaneers may have an advantage in the team chemistry department. There’s no doubt that there are some very high expectations for this year’s Tampa Bay squad, but can it be even better than the 2020 Super Bowl-winning team? That remains to be seen, but we’ll find out soon enough.
It will always be difficult to take any team over one quarterbacked by Tom Brady. For all the great things everyone loves about Baker Mayfield, there’s still a lot more for him to accomplish to even come close to Brady’s greatness. The 2020 team also had Antonio Brown as its third-string receiver and Rob Gronkowski as the starting tight end. As much excitement as there is for Emeka Egbuka, Brown has Hall of Fame credentials, regardless of his character flaws. And Cade Otton isn’t anywhere close to being on Gronk’s level – even when he was in the twilight of his career in Tampa.
Yet the 2025 Bucs team may have the advantage along the offensive line and at running back in terms of sheer talent. Defensively, the nod still has to go to the 2020 team where outside linebackers Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul took over the Super Bowl. It’s tough to say that Yaya Diaby would compare to Shaq Barrett or JPP is a fair fight, although having the experience that Haason Reddick brings helps Tampa Bay’s current group of edge rushers.
Inside linebacker Devin White was playing good football in 2020, and a younger, better Lavonte David also gives the 2020 team an edge over the present-day Buccaneers. The trials and tribulations of White have been well documented, but SirVocea Dennis is an unproven starter with an injury history. And David at age 35 is several years older than when he won the Super Bowl.
Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The edge must still go to the 2020 Super Bowl-winning team, but the 2025 Tampa Bay team has a riding a lot on the potential of these players. That’s where Dean is coming from and sees it every day.
Does this team have future Hall of Famers like the Super Bowl team does? Not yet, but a championship ring would do a lot to help the cause of the 2025 team.