The Buccaneers have been able to find some quality undrafted free agents that were big contributors to their success including some that helped them to the Lombardi Trophy.
One of the hardest things for a GM after trying to land elite players in the draft is to try to find that diamond in the rough undrafted free agents who can contribute on the team. Recently, Jason Licht has done a phenomenal job of finding those players for the Buccaneers.
For most teams the undrafted free agent is a camp body or a player to provide competition for current players on the team, but most fail to even make the team after the final cuts. As stated in Ben Volin’s Boston Globe article with this statistic from the NFL Players Association:
"“Undrafted rookies are in many ways the lifeblood of the NFL, filling out valuable spots at the bottom of the roster and on practice squads. In 2016, 117 of 590 undrafted free agents (19.8 percent) made a Week 1 roster or injured reserve, and another 125 (21.2 percent) made a practice squad.”"
There have been some diamonds found in the undrafted free agency period such as: two time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle, two time Super Bowl Champion Linebacker James Harrison, wide receivers Drew Pearson (highlight of this years draft), Wes Welker, and clutch kicker two time Super Bowl Champion Adam Vinatieri to name a few.
For the Buccaneers those diamonds in the rough have been hard to come by, but here are the Buccaneers Top 5 undrafted free agents in team history.