Tampa Bay Buccaneers ink new deal with running back Peyton Barber

Continuing their tour of cost-effective deals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed leading rusher from 2018 Peyton Barber to a one-year deal.

Yesterday around 1:30pm EST, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced running back and leading rusher from 2018 Peyton Barber had been re-signed on a one-year. The terms of the deal have not been released yet, but given that Barber was given a late round tender, which was equivalent to about $2 million, expect his extension to come in at around that range.

The 25-year-old ball carrier signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2016 after his collegiate career at the University of Auburn came to a conclusion. After three seasons in Tampa Bay, Barber has done well for himself to get his extension.

Barber entered the 2016 NFL Draft after a successful redshirt sophomore year in 2015, where he rushed for over 1,000 yards and found the endzone a whopping 13 times for the Auburn Tigers. While the draft did not go as Barber had planned, he landed in an ideal situation in Tampa Bay.

In 2018, Barber led the way on the ground for the Buccaneers, falling just short of 1,000 yards and finding the endzone five times. He added an additional 100 yard and one score to his stat sheet catching the ball out of the backfield as well.

While it was reported that the Bucs were hoping to work out a longer-term deal with Barber, the fourth-year running back is betting on himself to potentially earn a bigger pay day in 2020 after opting to sign a deal for only one year. His new contract is a win-win for both Barber and the cap strapped Bucs.

Under new head coach Bruce Arians, Barber is hoping to stack career years on top of one another and eclipse the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career. Come next year, we could be having this same conversation, with Barber getting a much bigger extension if he continues to break out in 2019.