The 1983 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 8th season in the National Football League the 8th playing their home games at Tampa Stadium and the 8th under head coach John McKay. They failed to improve on their 5–4 record from 1982 and finished with an equal league-worst 2–14 record as personnel changes and a rash of injuries and missed out the playoffs for the first time since 1980.
The team was unable to agree on a contract with quarterback Doug Williams, resulting in his departure for the USFL. The loss of Williams was believed to be a major distraction to the team. Jack Thompson was acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals as what was termed "an insurance move" during Williams' negotiations, for a draft choice that would turn out to be the top pick in the 1984 NFL draft.
After the Buccaneers' first-ever undefeated preseason, the regular season began with a long losing streak. The Buccaneers missed Williams' strong arm and scrambling ability and were forced to remake their offense as a short passing attack, with running back James Wilder Sr. as the primary target. Opponents were able to shut down that short attack, and the Buccaneers were successful at neither running the ball nor completing deep passes. The team's record was somewhat deceptive: they lost numerous close games but failed to execute at key times. According to McKay, "I think the other teams looking at us respect us. I don't think anyone is volunteering to play us". Opposing coach Bud Grant pointed out that they were "losing games they should've won". The Buccaneers took their opponents into overtime several times during a season that included a record number of overtime games league-wide. Nine of their losses were by a touchdown or less, and six by a field goal or less. Several games were lost due to problems in the kicking game, which led to McKay's famous pronouncement that (kicker Bill) "Capece is kaput". This season ended the Buccaneers' streak of having made the playoffs during three of the last four seasons, and began an NFL-record streak of fourteen consecutive losing seasons, thirteen of which saw the team lose at least ten games.
Injuries plagued the team. James Wilder emerged as one of the NFL's best running backs, but was not able to finish the season due to injury. Eighteen different players spent time on the injured reserve list over the course of the season, and only three started all sixteen games. Every member of the offensive line suffered an early-season injury, and the linebackers and defensive backfield were also hit hard. McKay blamed the team's problems on lack of effort and threatened personnel changes, while admitting that replacements would not be readily found. Attendance declined, and fans called for McKay's retirement. Owner Hugh Culverhouse reported an expected loss of $1.25 million due to declining ticket sales, while merchants reported a drop in merchandise sales. The team's final 2–14 record tied them with the Houston Oilers for the league's worst mark, but the Buccaneers were awarded last place over the Oilers by virtue of their opponents' worse combined winning percentage.
Offseason The offense's ineffective performance in their 30–17 playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys renewed criticism of the performance of the Buccaneer offense. Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls stated that the Buccaneers' game plan was very familiar, as it was exactly the same as on previous meetings. He also claimed that Doug Williams made postgame comments complaining of the offense's conservatism, although Williams said that his actual comments were misinterpreted by Walls. Coach John McKay responded by saying that he would continue to run the offense as usual, and not hire an offensive coordinator. Rumors began to fly that McKay was hoping for a good season so as to be able to retire on a winning note, with Dick Vermeil and Wayne Fontes mentioned as likely replacements.
Coaching changes Offensive line coach Bill Johnson and quarterbacks coach Bill Nelsen were fired soon after the end of the 1982 season. Johnson was replaced by University of Miami offensive coordinator and former Florida Gators center Kim Helton. McKay described Helton as an excellent teacher in Miami's pro-style offense. University of Illinois receivers coach and former Bengal Chip Myers took over Dowler's vacated receivers' coach spot. The changes were criticized as cosmetic moves that replaced Johnson, who had notable success building offensive lines over a 23-year career, with Helton, who had no professional experience at all. Furthermore, the Buccaneers had allowed the fewest sacks of any NFL team during Johnson's four-year tenure.
Player movements Several injured players left the Buccaneer roster in the spring. Jerry Eckwood was waived after failing a physical due to a back injury, Randy Crowder retired to take a coaching job at Penn State, and Bill Kollar was waived when he was deemed to be a medical risk if he played again. The loss of Kollar left the roster thin at defensive end, as there were only four players remaining at that position. Of these, Dave Stalls was trying to maintain Colorado residency in order to obtain a veterinary license, and so notified the club that he would retire if not traded to the Denver Broncos. Charley Hannah entered a contract dispute with the team, with the result that Sean Farrell began to be trained at tackle.
The offseason was marked by disputes over player salary. Offensive tackle Charley Hannah was unable to come to terms with the team, and was traded to the Los Angeles Raiders for defensive end Dave Browning and a 1984 fourth-round draft choice. Jimmie Giles held out of training camp, and attempted to use threats of leaving for the USFL as leverage to get his contract renegotiated. Giles, who was upset because the previous year's players' association contract expiration prevented a promised renegotiation from occurring, became the first Buccaneer to engage in a training camp holdout while under contract. Mark Cotney also had difficulty reaching an agreement with the team, but was eventually able to settle a contract. Lee Roy Selmon was awarded a new three-year contract that made him the highest-paid defensive end in the league.
McKay spoke of the need to begin replacing the aging original players, with the process already having begun at linebacker. However, the secondary featured four starters who were all at or near the age of 30, and who would all need to be replaced over the next couple of years.
The Doug Williams contract dispute Doug Williams' original five-year contract expired at the beginning of the year. A published report of player salaries revealed that Williams, who had led the team to playoff appearances three out of the preceding four seasons, was the sixth-lowest-paid starting quarterback in the NFL. Eighteen NFL backup quarterbacks also had salaries higher than Williams'. His $120,000 salary was the same as that of Atlanta Falcons backup Mike Moroski, and behind that of both Dallas backup quarterbacks and some teams' punters and kickers. Buccaneer spokesman Rick Odioso responded that Williams had refused several offers to increase his salary and extend his contract, instead preferring to play the contract through to the end. Odioso also pointed out that the reported base salaries did not reflect performance and signing bonuses, on which the Buccaneers depended more heavily than most NFL teams. Believing his worth to have been around $400,000, which was in line with what most top NFL quarterbacks were being paid, Williams had rejected the team's contract offers in previous years in an attempt to force the team to pay him fairly or trade him.
Soon after the reporting of the salary, Williams' wife Janice developed severe headaches. A brain tumor was diagnosed, and emergency surgery was performed. She died a week later. The tragedy required that Williams leave his daughter to be raised by his mother in Louisiana, removing his personal ties to the Tampa area. It also delayed negotiations.
Despite rumors that he might retire or leave for the USFL, Williams expressed the desire to play the rest of his career as a Buccaneer before going into coaching, with an eventual goal of succeeding Eddie Robinson as coach of Grambling. The Buccaneers made an offer that owner Hugh Culverhouse called "generous" and said would place Williams among the five highest-paid NFL quarterbacks. Williams' agent denied this, saying that the Buccaneers' offer was for substantially less than several quarterbacks make, was less than what his client Joe Namath had received from the New York Jets in 1975, and that the Buccaneers should be embarrassed by it. Williams made two different salary demands during the negotiations, raising his demands when hearing about the salaries paid to Dan Fouts and to rookies John Elway and Tony Eason. The team made a second offer that was described by negotiator Phil Krueger as comparable to that paid to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Williams rejected this offer and began to speak of the USFL as a definite alternative. Williams' demands were in the range of $800,000 to $900,000. When Williams rejected the Buccaneers' offer, they traded the following year's first-round draft pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for backup quarterback Jack Thompson. Williams interpreted the move as a message that the team was no longer interested in his services, and suggested that the team's willingness to deal first-round draft picks was a sign of their reluctance to pay for top-quality talent. It is believed that, as a traditionally low-paying team (25th lowest of the 28 teams, according to union figures), the Buccaneers' salary structure would be disrupted by meeting Williams' demands, which might result in higher salary demands from Pro Bowlers such as Lee Roy Selmon and Jimmie Giles. It was later pointed out that the revenue lost through declining ticket sales would have more than covered the $200,000 gap between what Williams had demanded and the team had been willing to pay.
Krueger told Williams' agent, Jimmy Walsh, that the team's $400,000 offer would be withdrawn if Williams did not report for the opening of training camp. Williams and Walsh lowered their request to $600,000, a price that the team said they would have been willing to meet before the Thompson trade. Williams charged that he would not have been treated so poorly in negotiations had he been white, and said "I hope the Bucs go 0–16 but all my friends make the Pro Bowl". On August 9, Williams called a 28th-birthday press conference to announce his signing with the USFL Oklahoma Outlaws for a sum worth substantially more than what Tampa Bay offered, ending his time as a player with the Buccaneers. Williams also reported that guard Greg Roberts, a close friend who had encouraged him to sign with Oklahoma, was also considering moving to the USFL.
Draft