Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4 free agent possibilities after cap increase
By Cory Kinnan
EDGE Matt Longacre
Another area of need for the Buccaneers is off the edge after the neck injury to their leader in sacks a year ago in Jason Pierre-Paul. While they signed Shaquil Barrett and drafted Anthony Nelson to help at outside linebacker, they have only Carl Nassib and Noah Spence in depth.
Adding another middle tiered pass rusher such as Matt Longacre could give the Buccaneers a solid rotation if Nelson is not ready to play right away or if Spence still does not put it together. The 6-3 and 265 pound Longacre performed well in a limited role with the Los Angeles Rams over the first four years of his career.
In that span, Longacre has tallied six and a half sacks, but has only started eight games and did not see much playing time until 2017. Over the two years that Longacre has contributed, he has also recorded five tackles for loss and 18 hits on opposing quarterbacks. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked as an above average player with a score of 68.5.
Longacre could be obtained for extremely cheap, and potentially the league minimum. With no pressure to name Longacre the starter across from Barrett in 2019, he could compete with the likes of Spence, Nassib, and Nelson to give the Buccaneers some depth and competition at the second outside linebacker position.