Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2024 NFL Schedule: Release date, opponents, biggest games, and predictions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offseason is in full swing now that the NFL Draft and free agency are out of the way. From this point on, it's all about making the 90-man roster as good as it can be via OTAs, workouts, and training camp.

One key offseason aspect is hurling itself towards us over the coming weeks, as well, and that's the NFL's schedule release. We already know the Bucs' 2024 opponents, but when and where they play the opposition is far more valuable then simply knowing who they play.

So, let's not waste any more time and go over everything we currently know about the Bucs' 2024 schedule, and more.

Buccaneers' Schedule Release Date

The NFL teased during the draft that schedules will be released in May, although it didn't give us an exact date. Based off the last couple of years, however, it should come out around the middle of May, as it was released on May 12 in 2022 and May 11 in 2023.

Once that comes out, we will update this with the Bucs' exact schedule.

Home and Away Opponents

Games played at Raymond James Stadium: Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens

Away games: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and New York Giants

Biggest Games on the Bucs' 2024 Schedule

Buccaneers at Lions: The Bucs return to Motown, where the Lions knocked them out of the playoffs, last year. With most of last year's cast, on both sides, returning, this is easily one to circle.

Buccaneers at Chiefs: Tampa Bay has some really tough road games on its schedule and Arrowhead Stadium is certainly one of them. Especially if it's the season-opener on Thursday Night Football.

Buccaneers vs. 49ers: Another measuring stick game against one of the elite teams. Can the Bucs finally get the best of Kyle Shanahan and the 9ers?

Predicting Primetime Matchups and Week 1/Week 18 Opponents

Which games will be primetime viewing?

Including Thursday, Sunday and Monday night football, Black Friday, and Thanksgiving/Christmas, I'm willing to bet the Bucs get four primetime games.

Not only does Tampa Bay boast several stars of its own, but matchups against the Lions, Cowboys, Chiefs, and yes, Giants make a ton of sense. When it comes to the latter, the last two contests in 2020 and 2021 were both MNF games, so why not make it three in a row?

I'd also be willing to parlay a Thanksgiving game against Dallas or Detroit. That would be a lot of fun to watch.

Who are the Week 1 and Week 18 opponents?

We're gonna go big for Week 1 and say it'll be a Super Bowl XLVII rematch between the Bucs and Chiefs. Tom Brady isn't around anymore, but a handful of Bucs players, and Todd Bowles, still are. Oh, and some guys named Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

For Week 18, the NFL loves scheduling divisional games. Since 2018, the Bucs have played either the Falcons or the Panthers, with Atlanta getting scheduled four of the six times. The Bucs haven't played the Saints in the season finale since 2017, when Jameis Winston hit Chris Godwin on a deep touchdown pass, on fourth down of all downs, to win the game. That streak ends this year, as my money is on the Bucs playing the Saints in Week 18.

Strength of Schedule (based off Vegas win totals, not 2023 record)

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis does this cool thing every year where he ranks teams' strength of schedule based off Vegas' projected win totals for the upcoming season. He doesn't base it off the standard last-year's-record model and it makes a lot more sense, because of all the change teams go through during the offseason.

At the time of this publication, he hasn't updated it to reflect Vegas' updated, post-draft totals and I'll update this once the information becomes available. Regardless, Sharp has the Bucs' SOS as the 11th-hardest, as you can see below: