Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Anthony Harris the answer at safety

The Bucs may have money to throw at a safety free agent in 2020 if they want to change things up and there are few options better than Anthony Harris.

Anthony Harris is a name that many people may not recognize but it is certainly not due to a lack of talent or results.

Harris’ name didn’t show up on the Pro Bowl roster or either of the All-Pro teams and many people may have missed out on the massive statement that he made in the 2019-2020 season.

This past season Harris had six interceptions and 11 passes defended making him one of the best safeties against the pass in the entire NFL. PFF graded Anthony Harris out to a 90.5 overall this past season yet somehow he has not yet been locked down for 2020 by the Vikings.

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The Buccaneers need a safety that can produce this quantity of turnovers and Harris has shown that he can do that over the years. Harris’ 2018-2019 season had three interceptions and six passes defended which would still be an upgrade for Tampa Bay.

Many fans have to wonder how Harris’ name wasn’t more well known despite the monster season that he put together, but the Buccaneers aren’t complaining. A player with less recognition is far easier to sign as a free agent.

The Bucs struggled in the secondary in 2019 and could be looking for a player like Harris who can create turnovers at will and at a consistent rate.

The pass rush and the rush defense took massive strides for Tampa Bay last season from the start of the year and the secondary did start to inch forward in the latter half of the regular season.

The best way to help the secondary continue to take the next steps towards being as good as the rest of the defense is to add a proven free agent safety like Anthony Harris that will add another high-performing piece to the defense.

The Buccaneer pass defense would immediately improve with the addition of a player like Anthony Harris and the Bucs would likely not have to break the bank to bring him in. This could be done quite easily if the Bucs decide to pass on bringing back several expensive free agents such as Breshad Perriman and Ndamukong Suh.

Overall it can be very hard to find a player like Anthony Harris and the Bucs should jump at the opportunity to sign a free agent like him. The immediate improvement that he would bring would be bigger than keeping players like Suh or Perriman in their current positions rather than drafting replacements.

Anthony Harris may currently be flying under the radar but he is the type of player that can immediately help the Buccaneer secondary against the pass and would be worth the money.