The veteran cornerback is coming out of retirement and has history with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
32-year-old veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, has been reinstated by the NFL and wants to end his brief retirement and return to the field in 2019. For a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that will not miss Brent Grimes, and is extremely inexperienced elsewhere, would adding Rodgers-Cromartie be a good fit for their defense?
In 2012, when Rodgers-Cromartie was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a familiar name as his position coach: current Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. It would be wise to give the 11 year vet a call in order to add some talent and experience to a room that consists mainly of 2016 first round bust Vernon Hargreaves and last year’s second round pick Carlton Davis.
While Rodgers-Cromartie has been in the league for double digit years, he is still on the right side of 30, and could help to take the pressure off of the youngsters being thrust into action; it benefit Jason Licht to at least inquire on the two-time Pro Bowler.
Throughout his long career, Rodgers-Cromartie has tallied a total of 30 interceptions and taken six of them back to the house, knocking down an additional 142 passes. He has been a nightmare for quarterbacks up to the point where he abruptly retired last season as a member of the Oakland Raiders and is out to prove that he still has gas left in the tank.
While Tampa Bay’s cap situation is a little tight at the moment, it will not be difficult for the team to shed underperforming veterans with big contracts in order to spend some money in free agency this offseason. While the team may make a splash signing or two, expect the Buccaneers to shop the bargain bin; Rodgers-Cromartie could be a talent to pursue for a cheap cost.