By – Bucs Report – Devin Sanguinett – Special to Sports Talk Florida
Yes, there are indeed free agents still worth the Buccaneers spending money on. This part of free agency is not exactly the most exciting, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t players that can help the team. There are plenty of players that can help the Bucs and provide some necessary depth pieces.
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Now, the point of this article is to bolster areas where the Bucs are thin. I don’t really want to focus on excess goods. They only have $8.5 million in cap space for this year. Would a player like Justin Simmons be great for us? Yeah, of course. He’s a great safety and considering he constantly picks off Mahomes, would be helpful for the Buccaneers week 9. But the Bucs have plenty of safety help.
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But speaking of the secondary, they could use another depth corner. On paper, the Bucs’ CB room is very solid. However, that is mostly dependent on players to break out who haven’t yet. Not saying they can’t, but you can’t always expect it to happen. Zyon McCollum is a freak athlete who has been developing for three years with some flashes, but this will be his first time starting. Jamel Dean also looked kinda rough last year. And behind them, with the exception of Bryce Hall, are rookies. Rookies that were taken late at that.
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There are a few FA corners, but the one I think could help the Buccaneers right away is Xavien Howard. At one point in time, he was seen as a really good corner. And while he isn’t as highly regarded nowadays, he can still provide some value. he was graded at 55.1 by PFF, had one interception, and 12 passes defended. All of which are very meh as a starter. However, he would not be asked to be a starter. He would be the back-up behind McCollum. And in that role, I think he would look better. Howard has been plagued by the injury bug, missing 5 games last year, which obviously impacted his numbers.
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So, with reduced playing time, he may ironically be able to play more games. He was paid pretty highly by the Dolphins, but I can’t imagine he would still be asking for that much anymore. The other guy I would consider is Stephon Gilmore. Very old for a CB, but has been very consistent in the Twilight of his career.
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While this may not seem like a need, I would argue the depth at ILB is really thin. With Devin White walking (or more accurately being shoved out the door), that leaves Lavonte David and KJ Britt. Now, Britt looked good in the starting role, but it’s a similar problem as to the CB room. The players behind them are just inexperienced. The ILB marker is not great right now, but there are guys like Zach Cunningham. He was a second round pick, so there is talent here. And he did lead the league in tackles and solo tackles with 106 and 164 respectively.
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However, he had been plagued by the injury bug in the past few seasons and has a tendency to miss tackles. Wait, the Eagles let go of a LB who kept missing tackles for Devin White? Ok then. Either way, this is once again a precautionary action. In the best case scenario, neither Lavonte David nor Britt miss time. But to bank on that happening, especially when David did miss time last season, would be foolish. Injuries happen, even to durable players. Cunningham would help bring some experience in case a starter goes down.
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