The Buccaneers kicked off their season with a dismal 42-14 loss to the Titans on Sunday and one of the reasons why things went so poorly for them was the play of their offensive line.
The unit was an issue over the summer and didn’t look any better against the Tennessee defense, which explains why the team is bringing in some help from outside. Adam Caplan of ESPN and Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times both report that former Falcons center Joe Hawley will sign with the team on Monday.
Hawley visited with the Bucs last week and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is familiar with him as they were both in Atlanta at the same time. Hawley started 23 games during his time with the Falcons and made starts in the first four games of last season before a torn ACL knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
Evan Smith is Tampa’s starter at center and both he and Hawley can also play guard, which gives Tampa some options moving forward if their current starters don’t fix the issues that have been hindering them in 2015.