Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-sign Kevin Minter, Cairo Santos overnight

To end a busy second day of NFL free agency, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-sign linebacker Kevin Minter and kicker Cairo Santos.

After a lackluster first day of the official tampering period of free agency, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put in the work on day-two, signing veterans Deone Bucannon, Bradley Pinion, and Breshad Perriman. In addition the Bucs re-signed some of their own, starting with Ryan Griffin, and late last night, two more of their own.

Around 9:45pm EST, Greg Auman of the Athletic broke the news that the Bucs and veteran Kevin Minter had agreed to terms on a contract extension to keep the linebacker in Tampa Bay. The terms of the deal have not yet been announced.

Minter, who predominantly played in a reserve role in 2018, may see a bigger role with the departure of Kwon Alexander, and will be vital in mentoring the Bucs’ young defense. With the defense learning a new scheme under new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Minter, who played under Bowles in Arizona with the Cardinals, could be a key veteran in running alongside the young Bucs.

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Throughout his career, Minter has started 44 games and had his best season in 2015 with Bowles and Bruce Arians in Arizona. He has tallied 266 career tackles, 23 of which have come behind the line of scrimmage, and six sacks.

In addition to inking a new deal with Minter, the Bucs also came to an agreement with kicker Cairo Santos. Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, around 10:45pm EST, the two sides agreed to a new deal, keeping Santos in Tampa Bay; the terms of the new deal have yet to be released.

The five-year veteran kicker came to Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers cut Chandler Catanzaro, and proceeded to prove that he belongs as an NFL kicker. In a year that saw numerous kickers struggle and bounce around the league, Santos went 9-for-12 on field goals and was a perfect 17-for-17 on extra points in his seven games with the Bucs.

While the numbers on most of the deals struck today have not been released, the Buccaneers have made a hard days work out of a limited budget that they have to work with. Keeping saavy veterans for cheap, Santos and Minter hang around Tampa Bay for at least another year.