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Doug Martin had a terrific season, arguably the best of his career -- and he was unsurprisingly named a first-team All-Pro, a PFWA All-NFL player, and to the Pro Bowl. He managed 1,402 rushing yards and 271 receiving yards, as well as seven total touchdowns. The result: he's number eleven on Pro Football Focus' top free agents list.
Doug Martin is the cream of the crop in what is shaping up to be the deepest free agent running back class of the last few seasons. In addition to proving his worth once again as a workhorse and pushing Adrian Peterson for the rushing title, Martin led the league in elusive rating, yards-after-contact, and 15+ yard runs. Only Peterson and Melvin Gordon had more fumbles than Martin, however, which could scare off some suitors.
The Bucs are almost certain to re-sign Doug Martin. They started preliminary talks during the season, and Koetter pushed hard for the team to keep their then-disappointing running back last offseason. They could use the franchise tag if they can't reach an agreement on a longer-term contract, though that would be relatively expensive. Regardless, it seems unlikely they let him hit the open market.
That's unfortunately true for most of the free agents that'll be available this offseason. The Bucs will have plenty of cap space, and players like Alshon Jeffery, Von Miller, Eric Berry and Olivier Vernon would be great fits. But most of these won't hit free agency: teams will re-sign them or apply franchise tag before free agency opens.