General Manager Jason Licht lured Bruce Arians, his former colleague in Arizona, out of retirement after one year as a broadcaster to replace Dirk Koetter as the Bucs' head coach. Arians brought in former Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles as his defensive coordinator and one-time Bucs quarterback Byron Leftwich as his offensive coordinator. The Bucs released six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy but signed Ndamukong Suh and also took a shot on Broncos rotational player Shaquil Barrett to rush the passer. Barrett would end up setting a new Buccaneers record and leading the NFL with 19.5 sacks. In the fifth and final season of his rookie contract, quarterback Jameis Winston made history of sorts by becoming the first 30-30 player in NFL history: 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions. Seven of those 30 picks were returned for touchdowns. Chris Godwin emerged as a full-fledged pass-catching star and combined with Mike Evans for 2,490 yards and 17 touchdowns. Unfortunately, the team got off to a 2-6 start, but a 5-1 run in November and December had it back to 7-7 and in playoff contention with two weeks to go, with both remaining games at home. However, a hard-fought 23-20 loss to Houston put the Bucs back under .500 and the season ended on an overtime Winston pick-six to the Falcons.
