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NFL Odds: Buccaneers have actually gotten worse over the past month

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got through free agency and for the first time in four years, they're not being labeled winners. Or even splashy spenders. Now, they're losers. Check it out.

And, well, I kind of get it. The Bucs have gotten value in free agency, but they haven't exactly blown anyone away. And the massive holes on the offensive remain, while the hole at defensive end got bigger rather than smaller. That's a bit of an issue if you want to win the Super Bowl.

So hey, underwhelming performance in free agency (even if the value is good) and your odds drop. It doesn't really matter that it now looks like a virtual certainty that the Bucs will select a quarterback, likely Jameis Winston, because that was always extraordinarily likely. And rookie quarterbacks aren't the surest bet for improvement either.

Still, I wouldn't expect the Bucs to end up with another 2-14 season. Or even a 4-12 year. The Bucs were bad last year, but they weren't as bad as they looked -- they were also supremely unlucky, and played better toward the end of the year than at the start. And if Lovie Smith's track record is any indication, he's never had back-to-back losing seasons -- even when he had garbage quarterbacks.

So I don't know. I'm not a big fan of the inactivity so far, but I still have faith that this is going to end up being a much better year than last season. How could it not?