Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Breaking down depth along the defensive line

The new guy

The big news of the offseason for the Buccaneers was the signing of Ndamukong Suh just a day or so after the release of McCoy. Suh signed a one-year deal with the team and will be a no-doubt day-one starter. Tampa Bay is hoping that he can provide a spark and hold the spot down until the 2020 Draft where the Buccaneers can address the position further.

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Suh is on a one-year deal, so do not expect him back in the pewter and red beyond the 2019 season, as he is at the point in his career where he will be looking for his biggest payday the rest of his career. He sat on the market all free agency until one team was willing to pay him the money he thought he was worth, and Tampa Bay took the bait at $10 million for 2019.

At best, Suh is a lateral move from McCoy, as he was not productive with the Los Angeles Rams last season, despite superstar running mate Aaron Donald drawing all of the attention away. He finished 2019 with four and a half sacks, four tackles for loss, and 19 hits on the quarterback; these numbers, and his numbers over the past three seasons, were all less than the guy the team just released.

Last season, it was not hard to turn on any Rams’ tape and watch Suh take it easy on multiple plays, that is, up until the postseason. Once the Rams were competing in the postseason, that defense saw a new Suh. Hopefully the Buccaneers get postseason Suh all 16 games while he spends a year of his career wearing the pewter and red.